Earth Child
by The Altered Destinies
Summary: "Imagine a world where Akane married Mikado Senzenen and had a daughter. Impossible enough for you yet? Well...suppose that child turned out to have the unique psychic pattern needed to bond with an Iczer...and you have the formula for a crossover series set in the "Next Generation" timeline postulated in my "Realities Cubed" series...
1. Chapter 1

Earthchild01

(An Iczer One/Ranma 1/2 crossover)

by Jim Robert Bader

(With ideas and inspiration by Johannes Huber,  
Rumiko Takahashi &amp; Others)

Chapter One.

The Earthchild

Muku Dori Senzenen stared in horror at the apparition before her, the horror being born of a Venomoid face leering down at her with an air of absolute menace. There was ancient hatred in its alien eyes as the THING (for it could not truly be called a person) began to advance upon her, and with nothing between her and the hideous creature, and no avenue of escape open to her, there seemed nothing that Muku could do to avoid the fate that had befallen her friends before the rampages of the insidious creature.

"Stay back!" she raised her hands in a futile attempt at warding it off, "I'm warning you...go away!"

The response of the creature was simply to open its gaping maw and utter an unholy cry, then it was rushing upon her without warning or preamble. Panic filled Muku's entire being as she screamed in abject terror, feeling a strange warmth rising up from within as the creature sought to plunge its deadly talons into her flesh, even as her whole world went white and her mind filled with an inexplicable explosion of sound and color...

The next thing she knew, Muku was landing with a "thump" on the floor next to her bed, inexplicably caught off-guard as the hard wood surface made itself known to her, along with a pair of slippers that offered scant cushioning for her face. Her heart was still beating wildly in her chest as she opened her eyes and looked around, belatedly wondering where the monster had gotten off to, and only a few seconds later recognizing her own bedroom.

"Oh man..." she groaned as she pushed herself up to a semi-sitting posture, finding herself on a bright sunny school morning with no hint of alien monsters anywhere about to complicate her day. She pushed her dark-grey hair out of her eyes and muttered, "That's it...I'm cutting down on the munchies next time I do homework..."

"Hello!" a voice called up to her, "Are you awake yet, Sleepy Head? Time to rise and shine and have some wholesome breakfast!"

Muku gave a rueful look to the door of her room then said, "Okay, Mom...I'll be down in a few minutes..."

"Better hurry it up, young lady," said the voice from the other side of the door, "You don't want to be late for school again and wind up staying so late that you'll miss practice."

"Huh?" Muku turned to glance at the wall clock then all but jumped to her feet in a panic, "OH NO! Why didn't you tell me it was so late? I gotta hop in the shower and get ready!"

"Excuse me?" she heard her mother sarcastically reply, "I called you four times but you never answered even once. What time did you get to bed, young lady?"

"Um...never mind, right," Muku started pulling off her pajamas and reaching for her bath-robe and freshly folded school uniform, passing her mother on the run out her door and into the hall shower.

Akane Senzenen just shook her head as the wind whipped her dark hair past her head. That young lady was starting to seriously remind her of someone else whom she knew from way back when...and NOT-in her opinion-the best possible association. She grumbled something under her breath about "bad influences" and started to turn away when she encountered her husband on the stairs, giving her one of his patented smiles, to which she responded, "What?"

"You have that look again," Mikado Senzenen chided, "What's the matter, is our little Princess giving you her usual, 'Sorry, Mom, I'm in a rush,' treatment again?"

"That young lady," Akane huffed, "I swear to you, I was never that irresponsible when I was her age. In fact, I had an almost perfect attendance record..."

"Ignoring the fact that you often had to fight your way to class against an army of would-be suitors," Mikado tactfully pointed out.

"Don't remind me," Akane sniffed, "At least she isn't like me in that regard..."

"Probably because our little Princess so intimidates the boys of her school that they know better than to treat her as a mere object for contention," Mikado pointed out, "After all, our Muku-chan is a perfect little lady who demands respect and a proper degree of distance to allow her to function like any other blessed maiden of her high school."

"And if they don't give her room enough to breathe then she'll flatten them," Akane noted somewhat smugly.

"Well, that goes without saying..."

"I don't know, Miki-chan," Akane said as she continued down the stairs with her husband falling in step beside her, "Seems to me that I can remember a time when you would have been right up there with the rest of the wolves in your school trying to strong-arm a date with anything in a skirt..."

"Ah, you wound me, dearest One," Mikado made a mock-gesture of clutching an imaginary arrow from his chest, "Seriously, though, you know how much I've tried to live down my irresponsible youth. I hardly knew how to act around a woman when I met up with you, I just pretended that I knew my way and let nature's gift of my good looks do all the charming for my fan group. You were my thousandth girl, the one whose kiss mattered more than any others, and you awoke me to a finer understanding of myself than any degree of therapy could have offered..."

"You make it sound like it was easy," Akane gave him a wry side-glance, "I seem to remember that there was an awful lot of hurdles in the way before I finally did let you kiss me. Good thing you were so hard headed and persistent, I thought you were just some stuck up snob back then who thought himself a gift to the ladies..."

"Unlike that charming fellow you were engaged to at the time?" Mikado remarked, snapping his fingers and pretending confusion, "What was his name again? Sour Tome? Sauerkraut? Or..."

"It was Saotome, remember?" Akane gave him an exasperated look, "And he's only been your friend for-what? Close to eighteen years now..."

"Oh yes, that fellow," Mikado snapped his fingers as if just remembering, "Didn't he also marry that Chef...the one who looks more like a man than him? And then there was that Chinese bimbo...I seem to remember her name from somewhere..."

Akane gave a mildly exasperated sigh, but in spite of her husband's verbal games she could not keep from succumbing to his charming humor. A lot had happened since those early years when the two of them had started seeing one another (over the rather loud objections of her father), and the memories were tinged with a hint of nostalgia for the "Good Old Days" (Not that she would EVER dream of reliving them, of course). Since learning to see the real man beneath Mikado's image as a thoughtless playboy, she had gotten good at reading his moods and understood when he was sending her non-verbal signals as to the nature of his real intentions.

"Wait until after Muku is on her way to school," she urged her man with a wry grin of anticipation, "I promise you a better time than when you kissed a certain redhead..."

She laughed as she saw him wince, pleased as always to see that the memory still irked Mikado of that particular occasion when he had overreached himself with his unsuspecting rival...

Muku-the "White Starling"-was aware of none of these things as she hastily scrubbed her body down with soap and lathered her long hair, almost setting a record for cleanliness that would have impressed an Amazon Mistress of the Xi Fang Gao, drying herself off and stepping back out of the shower so fast that she almost slipped on the floor in her haste to get dressed and ready for her classes.

A few minutes (and one hasty breakfast) later (and thankfully this time it was her FATHER who did the cooking), Muku was out the door and pulling on her inline skates, making haste to burn up the tracks as she raced down the sidewalk dodging both pedestrians and traffic while cutting across obstacles that would have given even her parents nightmares. After all, life was all about practice, and she had her martial arts to think of when she was scheduled to fight the team Captain of her Kempo club after school today. It was not easy being trained in three different forms of the Anything Goes system, but Muku did her best to excel in everything she put her mind to, and martial arts was an integral part of her very being.

But then again, when your mother was a master of Kempo and your father was an internationally recognized star of Ice Skating, you had some mighty big shoes to fill, and as their daughter and heir she was determined to maintain her traditions, even if it meant running her skates over surfaces that were (at least technically) never intended for the purposes of skating.

Of course as she got nearer to her goal she saw and passed by on the run some of her friends and fellow classmates, including her best friend, Sakura Saotome. They waved at each other as each one took a different route to the Furinkan area, Sakura taking the "high" road (Rooftops and railings) while Muku remained largely landbound with her skates designed for racing, not heavy leaping. Muku smiled as she regarded her Team Captain, thinking of what an irony it was that they would be paired off today for some friendly "free-sparring" in front of their Sensei, who just happened to be Sakura's own father. In spite of the two of them being nominal rivals, they were close and intimate friends who shared a lot of personal secrets together, though they never held anything back when it came to the name of some "friendly competition."

At least Sakura would leave that mother-loving Spatula of hers at home whenever they fought in class. Their Sensei insisted on emphasizing bare-handed grappling over weapons training, which he taught in a separate class, not like that stuck-up snob from the Kendo Club, Godai Kuno...

All at once a strange feeling came over Muku as she began to cut across the open park, only two blocks from her high school. It was like a cool wind blowing down her spine, and it caused her to pull up short as some sense of the peculiar caused her to take notice. She stood still for several long seconds, her heart beating hard as she took in deep breaths to calm herself and open up her senses...and then she turned to see a pair of eyes that were looking her way...a shadow from behind a tree, and a peculiar sense of vague recognition.

"Who's there?" Muku asked, reflexively falling into a combat stance with her feet braced wide and at an angle so that her skates would have additional traction. For a moment she wondered if it could be that annoying Gel, the girl from her school whom she regarded as the closest thing to an enemy in her life. Was that purple haired floozy about to launch another one of her sneak attacks from hiding?

But then the figure eased forward a bit and came more clearly into view, and Muku felt as though a prickling sensation were running all through her body, for the large eyes staring back from an elfin face belonged to a stranger...a girl whom Muku would have sworn she had never met before...a girl whose hair was strawberry blond, almost golden as a few rays of sunlight played across her mildly slanting features.

"Who..." Muku gasped, her surprise causing her to almost double-take at the sight of such a preternatural beauty.

The girl...or was that the Vision?-only smiled at her then eased away, and before Muku's very eyes appeared to utterly and completely vanish.

She stood there for several long moments before a voice chided her sharply, "What are you doing standing around like that for, Muku? You're going to be late for school!"

"Eh?" Muku turned around and saw Yumi Mizuno, another of her close friends, approaching at a normal walking pace. Her friend was eyeing her with a peculiar expression, as if seeing something in Muku that was causing her some confusion.

"Are you spacing out on me again?" Yumi gently teased, "Honestly, sometimes I think you've got your head in the clouds, girlfriend..."

"Ah..." Muku glanced back at the place where she had seen the blonde girl, then turned back to her friend and said, "Never mind. Guess we'd better get running, huh?"

"Unless you want to stand out in the hall holding buckets of water," Yumi replied, "Care to walk with me, or are you planning on skating the way there."

"Er...sure," Muku replied, slowing per pace to keep even with Yumi, aware of how her skates made her seem even taller for her age than usual next to her more demure companion. She wasn't certain what had just happened, but there was something about the blonde that was disturbing her greatly, and since she did not feel like sharing word of the encounter, she just continued on her way, unable to help feeling as though someone were watching her from concealment, a fact that in no way eased her mind as she and her friend made their way towards classes.

High above in the trees a pair of large eyes were watching her, and a smile across a pair of lips seemed to hint of a playful nature. The elfin beauty nodded softly to herself in satisfaction, then vanished from the spot as though she were little more than a phantom...

"What happened to you?" Sakura asked as they sat down together at the beginning of classes, "I was waiting for you by the front gate, but you almost didn't make it."

"I-ah-ran into somebody on the way here," Muku said evasively, "No one you'd know, but I got a bit...distracted for a while there..."

"Nobody I know, huh?" Sakura replied with skepticism, "Well, if it's Gel or Brandon, then I ought to have a word with them again. Those two have become a real handful of late, and it won't do if they keep making you late for your classes, Sugar."

"Oh, it's nothing like that," Muku tried to reassure, "Not like with you and Ono Ken, eh?"

Muku smiled as she saw the sour look that crossed her friend's features at the mention of her unwanted fianc e. Ken was a nice boy, taking more after his father than his mother, and very popular in their school, but not so popular with the boy-hating Sakura, who professed a total indifference to his manly charms (even though she often displayed a violently jealous streak when Ken even talked to another woman). For all that Sakura dressed like a girl and like "girlish" pursuits, there was something of the Tomboy about her that put many people off, not least of which was her quite volatile temper, which she would happily display to anyone who even implied that she was less feminine than was proper.

Ironically enough, Ken never treated Sakura as anything but a lady, being one of the nicest boys in their high school with a great business sense and a willingness to help others with their financial and homework problems. Ken was something of a budding entrepreneur, much like his mother before him, but he preferred to deal fairly with those he named as his "clients" and was generous to such a fault that even his own mother often despaired at his altruism. Muku privately liked Ken but would never have dreamed of picking up on him, which would have alienated Sakura against her. The private family agreement that had made the two of them iinazuke since childhood was a source of both pride and exasperation for Sakura, who did not even claim that she wanted to get married until she had made her family fortune, rather like her business-savvy mother.

Class got underway as their Homeroom teacher got things started, calling in their homework assignments (which Muku was grateful to have done-the negative effects to her sleeping habits notwithstanding), then he asked for their verbal progress reports on their "Vocational" projects, which were due on this particular day of the week. At this Muku brightened up considerably as her own project was something for which she held a great deal of enthusiasm, having devoted a lot of personal time to researching her chosen field and all that went with it. She was eager to give her report as soon as her turn came up, even if it would raise a few eyebrows among those who-quite naturally-thought that she would prefer to follow in the footsteps of her parents.

In that regard she and Sakura had a lot in common, for though her best friend was as accomplished a chef as her mother, she was inclined towards other things than a career in food service, or even the martial arts teachings of her father. Sakura had artistic talents and liked to draw and paint in her spare time, and hoped to one day to earn a living doing this regardless of her other duties. Muku had even sat in for her friend as a model on a couple of occasions...nothing too fancy, just some random sketches, but she considered Sakura to be very talented and wished her well in her efforts. Now if only their parents could both be so understanding...

All at once she felt a prickling sensation once again, only this time it was no pleasant feeling of being watched by an unknown source. Her battle reflexes snapped to full alert as her head came around and she stared at a shadowy corner of the room...a shadow that moved and took the form of an apparition of absolute horror.

Muku was out of her chair and into a defensive stance even as her mind was reacting to the sight of a creature straight out of her most recent nightmares. Her conscious mind was saying, "IT CAN'T BE REAL! IT WAS JUST A DREAM!" but her body was preparing for battle as though this were just another typical challenge.

"What are you?" she cried, "What do you want?"

In response the creature gave a cry that was as hideous as its appearance was inhuman, and its overly large eye seemed to expand in size as its mouth gaped wide open, and then limbs that were impossibly long and as flexible as twin cables came snapping her way like a pair of twin lashes. She instinctively propelled herself backward and landed on a desk near the window, exactly as she would have responded had this been one of Gel's attacks, but then the desk beneath her feet began to melt, causing her to sink down to her thighs, thus immobilizing her as the creature prepared to launch its attack again. It was all that she could do to throw up her arms to brace herself against an attack, certain that it would hurt a lot more than being pummeled by Brandon's boken.

But before those arms could reach her a searing red light flared up and sliced them like strands of limp ramen, causing the severed members to shrivel up and vanish, a fact that caused Muku to lower her arms and stare, catching sight of a vision that left her staggered and breathless.

Long blonde hair tinged with streaks of crimson, a flash of green and blue body-  
armor, and a flare of gold between two slender hands as a figure stood between her and the creature. The Venomoid-for that was the name that her mind suggested-looked at the figure standing in its path, then at Muku herself, and slowly stepped back into the shadows...and vanished.

The figure remained where she was for several long moments, then slowly turned around and glanced past her shoulder at Muku, and in a surprisingly light voice asked, "Are you all right...?"

"Are you all right, Muku-san?" someone asked, shaking her shoulder, causing Muku to gasp and look around, finding that every student in her homeroom was looking at her with perplexed and baffled expressions, with no sign at all of the blonde girl in blue and green armor. Muku glanced down to find herself standing on a student's desk and everything else the way it was with not a single indication to show that there had ever been any monster.

"Ah...what?" Muku asked, glancing down to see the concerned expressions of Sakura and Yumi.

"We asked if you were all right," replied Sakura, "You just sort of got up out of your chair and started yelling, then you jumped onto that desk and acted like you were under attack or something."

"I did?" Muku blinked, "I just sort of...reacted...it was instinct. I thought...I...never mind..."

"Miss Senzenen," their teacher said sternly, "I trust that you have a good reason for disrupting our class like this?"

"I...sorry sir," Muku hopped down onto the floor and turned to bow to her teacher, "I don't know what came over me...it won't happen again..."

(I hope), she thought, wondering why she was hearing an odd tittering laugh in her head, and why she had the peculiar sense that her troubles were only just beginning to manifest, like that blonde girl with the pointed ears who kept cropping up in her visions...

That brought another belated thought to mind as she replayed the sight of the strange girl in her mind...realizing that she did indeed possess large pointed ears that stood out from her hair at the sides of her head. As with those overly large eyes there was a sense of something...alien about her...and yet somehow familiar...as though they had met before in a dream. Whatever the truth of the matter, she knew instinctively that things were about to get even stranger in her life...even stranger than what passed for strange in the prefecture of Nerima, and without even a clue to go on she had to hope that she had the skills necessary to survive it, because if she did not, then her nerves and reputation would not be the only things that were likely to come under challenge...

"...I'm just saying that maybe you need to talk to my father, tell him what you saw and get his opinion," Sakura said during lunch break, "I mean...strange girls popping up out of no where, mysterious monsters that nobody else but you can see...it sounds just like the sort of stuff that's normally up his alley."

"Possibly," Muku remarked as she listlessly picked at her bento with her chopsticks, "Or maybe he'll think I've gone nuts all of a sudden. I know you're thinking it right now, so don't bother trying to deny it."

"It's not like that, Muku-chan," Yumi said, holding up a piece of okonomiyaki that Sakura had whipped up on the spot from the ingredients that she seemed to nearly always carry, "It's just...well...you have been working out awfully hard, and with all the stress that we've been under doing homework..."

"You think I've lost it because I lost a little sleep last night," Muku replied, "Come on guys, this is serious...it was as real to me as the both of you right now, and twice as scary as grandfather when he gets on a tear about who his children were supposed to marry."

"That scary, huh?" Sakura said reluctantly, "Now you really have got me worried."

Muku half-finished her lunch then set her bento aside, feeling a sharp loss of appetite as she considered the reality of the horror that had been spawned in her two visions. She leaned back and heaved a sigh, stretching out her legs and saying, "If only I knew what it all was supposed to mean. I could accept a little craziness in my life...heck, that sort of thing passes for normal around here. But...this wasn't just weird, it was freaky. That thing that attacked me...it made my skin crawl. It wasn't just that it looked so ugly and monstrous, it felt more like it wanted to...well...devour my soul, or something like that."

"Devour your soul?" Yumi blanched.

"Huh, sounds more like a demon than just any old monster to me," Sakura noted, "Maybe we should ask Hibiki if she wants to do a blessing on you, or something. Her mother knows all sorts of really useful wards and chants..."

"That's assuming we could find her," Yumi sniffed, "You know that without those Ravens of hers she's as clueless and directionless as a bat with sunstroke."

"Well, thanks guys," Muku sighed, "It's nice to be able to tell somebody about stuff like this without them just automatically assuming that I'm crazy."

"Define crazy," Sakura replied as she used her "Big Ass Spatula" to level herself up into a standing position, "You're not nuts, Muku-chan...you're about as stable as they come. Of course if you were crazy then that would leave no word in either Japanese or English that could describe me, so there you have it."

"It might sound odd hearing a story like that from anyone else but you," Yumi said as she, too, got to her feet, "I'm going to talk to Yui anyway...see if she can suggest something that could help you out, maybe a charm or a blessing or some stuff like that. Of course if you do keep seeing blonde haired elf-girls, you will remember to introduce us next time, right?"

"Sure thing," Muku smiled as she also stood up, dusting off her school uniform as she picked up her bento for disposal, only to halt in her tracks and turn her head at a sudden distraction.

Both Sakura and Yumi turned their own heads to look, then both sighed in mild exasperation, seeing that it was only a mobile Patlabor that was crossing a construction yard just beyond the walls of their school grounds. The Labor was lifting heavy piping to place on the roof of a steel-framed building, and from the way Muku was staring at the twenty-five foot tall robotic mecha was enough to make her two best friends shake their heads in exasperation, knowing what that look implied and each-for their own separate reasons-feeling a familiar sense of amusement and confusion.

"Daydreaming again," Yumi remarked.

"Off in her own little world, as usual, Sugar," Sakura sighed, "Such a waste, too...with your combination of brains and beauty you could be a champion skater, or an artist's model, but NOOO...you want to be a Labor pilot..."

"...And work in construction, building things from the ground floor up," Yumi finished for her.

"Hey, so I like Labors," Muku smiled without turning her eyes from the sight of the construction mecha, eyeing the Pilot's cage, where a human operator was working the controls to set the load of pipes down as gently as a baby, "Don't tell me you guys aren't impressed with the new technology? I mean...wouldn't you just love to have something so big and powerful at your command?"

"No thanks," Sakura replied as she turned away, "I side with my father on that...it's better to depend on your own personal power than let some tool or device do your work for you."

"Like your father's ever worked an honest day in his life, outside of a dojo?" Muku teased, her expression remaining fixed on the Labor as though she were eyeing a sleek car or new Pop Idol album, "Besides, I'd rather work in a labor than have to pull a normal job working alongside with a Boomer."

"There is that," Yumi conceded, shuddering slightly, "Call me old fashioned, but Boomers tend to make me itchy. Good thing there's not as many of them out here in the suburbs as there are in Tokyo proper."

"That's why there's still job openings for humans here in Nerima," Muku smiled, "And one of these days I'm going to sit in the control cabin of one of those mecha and know what it feels like to have fifty thousand horsepower muscles at my disposal."

"Sure thing, Space Case," Sakura said as she headed off towards the main building, "Just be sure you don't lose it big time and arrive late from lunch break."

"Class starts in another ten minutes, so we'd better hurry," Yumi urged, "You coming?"

"In another minute," Muku replied, watching as the Labor moved to an area where raw materials were accumulated and bent down to retrieve some steel panels, which same it handled as though it were moving twigs instead of girders.

"Suit yourself," Sakura said as she and Yumi headed off, "But don't expect us to call out your name at roll call."

"This is one time you're going to have to look after your attendance by yourself," Yumi added with a hint of mock-sternness.

"Yeah, sure," Muku murmured back, continuing to study the way the cabin controls were worked by the Labor pilot and unconsciously moving her hands as if she were in control of an actual labor.

"You like machines," a voice said beside her, "I can feel in you many pleasant emotions tied in with the working operations of this primitive robot."

"Yeah," Muku replied, "I think they're terrific..." and then she slowly did a double-take and added, "Primitive?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," said the strawberry blonde haired elf-girl at her side, "I didn't mean for that to sound insulting. I am certain that it is a very fascinating machine for one that uses only limited biotechnology..."

"Who are you?" Muku gasped as she stared wide-eyed at the phantom girl beside her.

"I'm sorry," the girl suddenly seemed quite shy and looked down as her cheeks colored a little, "I didn't mean to intrude on you...I was only making an observation..."

"I mean...WHO are you?" Muku repeated, staring down at those impossibly large eyes that stared back at her with guileless innocence and an all-too-human expression.

"Don't you know already?" the girl asked without dissemble, "My name is Rhea...Kano Rhea...and you are Senzenen Muku Dori. I am very pleased to finally meet you."

"To...meet me?" Muku blinked, "But...?"

"The Venomoid that attacked you may still be around, so I thought it was important that I approach you," Rhea explained, "I...need your help...if I am not being too forward..."

"Too forward...my help?" Muku repeated, "What are you talking about? What's a Venomoid, and why did it attack me?"

The girl looked down at her own feet and seemed to fidget slightly before she answered, "It's because of me...I've chosen you to be my partner, and the enemy knows this, so they will be after you...I am sorry about this..."

Muku shook her head to clear it and said, "Wait...I don't get any of this? Your...partner? What are you talking about? And what enemy...?"

"Hold," Rhea's tone shifted abruptly, gaining an authority that had not been there before as she stood more alert and battle-ready, "We are not alone."

"What...?" Muku asked when she felt a curious sensation, like needles flowing over her skin, and looked up to notice that the sky and their surroundings were changing, becoming hideous and alien for all that the landscape only marginally altered.

"We have been drawn into subspace," Rhea explained, "The enemy has us surrounded."

"Surrounded?" Muku looked up and saw Venomoids approaching from all directions...six of them in all and each as ugly as the last one, only many times over. They flashed wicked teeth and sneers of disdain as their hideously large eyes roved over the pair, sizing Muku up as though she were a prime plate of teriyaki meat laid out across a table.

"Oboy," she said as she sized up her position, feeling definitely that she had somehow gotten up on the wrong side of the bed that very morning...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Systematic Receiving: shadowmane

Muku finds herself being drawn into the action as Rhea takes on six Venomoids by herself, but is she up to the task, and how can Muku be of aid to her? Find out next time in, "Battle On, Muku!" or "Fight, Iczer Four!" Be there!

X

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	2. Chapter 2

Earthchild02

The Earthchild

(A Ranma/Iczer One Crossover)

By Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi &amp; Others,  
including ideas and suggestions by Johannes Huber)

Chapter Two.

Muku stared in dismay as six ungodly shapes that walked on two legs but had only the barest semblance of anything even remotely human suddenly filled the former schoolyard. The creatures were hideous nightmare shapes whose faces consisted of some kind of combination eyeball and gaping mouth, and all of them seemed bent and determined to some foul purpose that centered on Muku herself, not to mention her more comely companion, who stood facing these monsters in a battle stance that denoted a born martial artist.

"Be careful," her new 'friend' murmured urgently, "Do not let them touch you. The Venomoids are not from our timeframe, but they can use the neutral field of Subspace as a transition point to draw us into their world, and once they have made contact they will attempt to take you over and make you one of their servants."

"They...what?" Muku asked, feeling very much out of the loop and out to sea with her head swimming from the sudden sense of transition.

"No time!" the blonde-haired elf-girl raised her hands and suddenly she was holding onto what seemed like a shard of light, over a meter in length and resembling a light saber out of a Star Wars movie. Without preamble she moved to defend them both as the creatures came rushing into the attack, and without warning their pliable bodies lashed out in an attempt to engulf them in their unwholesome embrace.

But Rhea-or so the elf girl had named herself-was prepared for this and sliced through every piece of the creatures that came near them while simultaneously shoving Muku to the floor in order to get her out of the line of attack, much though Muku did not fully appreciate being dumped on her ass in the middle of such a crisis. Muku's own martial arts training came to the fore as she rolled with the rude landing, scrunching up into a ball and half-rising in a defensive crouch that took everything into her range of vision.

The creatures were wisely avoiding a direct confrontation with Rhea, who seemed to be everywhere at once with that ruby sword of hers slicing through creature body parts as though they were harmless globs of gelatin from some movie prop house. Muku had thought that only a Kuno knew moves like that in swordplay with either bokken or katana, but this girl was obviously a full master in that capacity and far faster even than Kuno senior himself. That sword found everything that came anywhere near the elfin girl and shrouded it into disintegrating molecular bits, but when the creatures managed to get around her they came unrelentingly after Muku, who had to dodge by leaping backwards, reacting instinctively as though she were under attack by her Uncle Mousse or Aunt Shiratori. The rules were basically the same, after all...don't let the enemy touch you, and in that regard her lifetime of intensive training was a definite advantage.

But these were not ordinary creatures that aimed and missed her with their prehensile attacks, they were monsters of a different variety, and as such they did not play by the same rules as ordinary martial artists. Muku sensed that even before she saw the creatures moving closer together to form a single mass, their bodies flowing one into the other until they took on a giant form more terrifying than their individual contours. Rhea paused in her onslaught as she took in this new urgent menace, and then a wave of force lashed out at her and knocked her away. The monster then turned its attention towards Muku once again, but rather than a physical assault it started to glow in an ominous manner, and then beams of energy shot from its body, lashing out at Muku, who again had to take defensive action.

"What the heck is this thing?" Muku asked of herself as she tried to dodge these new attacks, thinking as an afterthought how much it sucked not to be able to strike back with a weapon. Bare handed she could take down nearly anything at or around her weight class, but she had a feeling that this particular target would not be solid enough for her to strike with a foot or a fist, and the warning against touching the creature was echoing in her mind, seconded by her instinctive aversion of the thing and what it potentially represented.

All at once she found something solid pressing up against her back, and Muku belatedly recognized it as a wall of some sort, cutting off her line of escape and leaving her vulnerable to the thing as he got its bearings and struck nearer to its target. A blast came near to taking her in the head, and only by twisting to the side did she avoid another attack aimed at the center of her body. As used to fighting on uneven surfaces as she was, Muku could not regain her balance in time and fell heavily to the ground, open and vulnerable though she attempted to turn her momentum into a roll, knowing that she was as good as toast as the thing had the perfect opportunity to nail her.

"NO!" a voice cried both in her ears and in her mind, and all at once something interposed itself between the oncoming blast and Muku. She looked up in time to see Rhea and her energy sword deflecting a powerful burst that seemed bright as the sun and as deadly as bomb blast. Then Rhea staggered backwards, clutching at one arm as the creature renewed its onslaught, only to halt abruptly even as Muku got to her feet and tried to take stock of this whole insane situation.

But then she felt the very solid presence of Rhea got staggering into her arms, and by reflex Muku caught the armored girl with both hands to steady her, wondering if her nominal protector had somehow been injured. To her dismay one hand encountered a wetness that felt warm and curiously sticky, and then she looked into the pained expression of the blonde elf-girl's face and realized that she had been hurt, opened her mouth to say something, only to see the girl smile and say, "Don't worry...I got him."

Muku turned to see the creature rearing back as Rhea's sword protruded from its dark chest, and all at once the horror cried out in dismay, its body falling apart before their very eyes as its dark shape crumbled into chunks of unwholesome flesh, and then disintegrated altogether.

One moment later the world change back into its normal lighting and color, leaving Muku to wonder if it had been a dream or another waking nightmare. But then again the body of the girl learning against her was VERY real and quite unmistakably solid, putting to rest any doubt on that quarter as Muku tried to make sense of the whole insane situation.

"What was that thing?" Muku asked of her injured companion.

"The enemy," Rhea replied, "They are after you...but I think you will safe for now. It will take them time to marshal enough strength to attempt another crossing."

"The enemy?" Muku asked, "What enemy? You...you're hurt...?"

"I am...damaged," Rhea glanced at her own arm, "Throwing my sword created an opening, but it was a risk that had to be taken. The Venomoid are not like ordinary enemies, and they are quite relentless once they have determined their prey. I regret that I have involved you in this...it was not by intention..."

"You did this for me?" Muku asked as she held up a hand and stared at the blood...or that was what she took it to be, though in some dismay she said, "It's...orange?"

"My plasma is synthetic," Rhea stood on her own power now and turned around to look up at Muku directly, "Though it has a molecular basis not too dissimilar from your own. I trust you will be safe for now, for I must return to be repaired, but...I will see you again when I am able."

Muku opened her eyes to ask what the other girl meant by this, but before she had the chance the other girl vanished before her very eyes, becoming a blur and then disappearing altogether. Muku stared a the spot where the elvish girl had been standing for a long time, totally stunned by the whole strange mess, but then she heard a familiar bell ringing from close nearby and said, "OH CRAP! I'M LATE!"

With that she took off at a run into the school building, pausing briefly to check in at the nearest rest room so that she could get her hands cleaned of the...whatever it was that passed for blood with the blonde stranger. She knew that her teacher would be strict with her for coming in late for class, but coming in with her hands full of orange stuff was bound to raise even more questions, and-besides-she needed to splash her face to cool herself off after fighting for her life against things that should not even have existed. All the while she was playing the whole curious affair over and over in her mind with a flood of questions that demanded some kind of an answer.

Who was this Rhea, this girl who bled orange and had a face like an angel? What were these creatures that now regarded Muku as an enemy, and how was Rhea involved with them, and why were they after Muku? Was this all happening for real or was she losing it big time, and...why did she feel so sure that it was only going to get worse from this point onward and not better? So many questions, and no real answers, but Muku intended to pursue the matter on her own at the earliest possibility and seek answers the next time she saw Rhea...for she was absolutely positive that she would indeed see her again, and soon. There was something odd that happened whenever she was around...something that had little to do with any monsters, something that made Muku's pulse quicken and her stomach to knot up without any definable reason. She had to learn what this connection was one way or another...

...Or die trying in the effort, she thought with a wince, knowing well the other unspoken part of her resolve, and what it might well signify for the future...

"...Plasma levels are stabilizing, she is regenerating within safe parameters. She is well outside of the danger zone, Commander, and we can expect a full recovery within ten standard Earth hours."

"Very good," replied the Commander, a very tall woman with large eyes, pointed ears and a mane of crimson hair that hung down her back almost to her ankles, turning to regard the floating form of the naked Rhea as her eyes narrowed sternly and she spoke with an equally hard expression, "That was very reckless of you, young lady. Your parents will most displeased that you risked yourself in such an audacious encounter."

The slender Rhea was floating in an aqueous solution that was stabilizing her body and helping to restore her essential functions. Her manner was shy and quite obviously contrite as she spoke the words that could be heard in spite of her lungs being filled with aerated solution, "I know, Auntie...and I'm sorry. I didn't mean to broach protocols, but when I sensed the Venomoid attack..."

The pointy-eared redhead raised a hand to stifle further protest, "Do not apologize to me...make your apologies to my Sister and her mate. They entrusted me to see to your well being, and so far I must say that I am very disappointed in your performance. It is not the correctness of your actions that concerns me, though...it is that the enemy has grown so bold that they would lash out at your designated partner in such a flagrant manner. In that regard you acted properly to forestall their efforts, but you know that this can but signify the opening foray in a much greater war, and for that you must be at your optimal combat settings. I have been training you for this moment for years, and to allow yourself to become damaged in this way is carelessness beyond forgiveness."

"I know," Rhea glanced down, "I will do better next time, Ni-sama...I promise."

The stern redhead allowed her mask of disapproval to slip by a fraction and she quirked a little smile before adding, "See that you do, or I'm going to double your training regimen. Merely having the programmed moves of an accomplished fighter in your cellular nature is no reason to get sloppy. You must push yourself harder to draw on more of your reserves of knowledge to become the ultimate fighting machine. Only then will you be worthy of the name of Iczer."

Rhea lifted her eyes then hesitated before saying, "So...will you be telling my parents about this?"

"I'd be remise in my duties if I did not," the redhead turned and said, "Cerulean...notify my sister and her partner. It is time to wake them from their sleep cycles, and my term of duty is entering third watch at any rate. I will give a full report, then officially go off duty for the quarter."

"Understood, Commander," the technician on duty responded, "And will your Mate be joining you in your cubicle, as usual?"

"Not this time," the Commander smiled, "She is taking me on...I believe the Earthers call it a 'date.' A curious custom, this socializing between committed partners. I think I rather like it."

"I believe I understand you, Sir," Cerulean smiled back, "There are many strange customs these Terrans have which take some getting used to, but that is one of their more pleasant. Shall I file a report with Sector Leader Indigo?"

"Of course," the redheaded woman replied, "The leader herself must learn of the growing aggressiveness of the enemy. A council of war will need to be convened between my sisters and the rest of us so that new steps and protocols may be adopted to deter further encroachments."

Rhea tuned out the rest of her Aunt's conversation, her mind focusing on the words that most intensely drew her interest. "A date?" she wondered, filing through her memories to identify the reference, then opening her already large eyes even wider as the full meaning and implications sank in, causing her to say, "Oh..." and she started to blush a crimson hue for reasons which had little to do with the process of her healing...

"You really have lot it this time," Sakura remarked as she and Yumi walked home with a chagrined Muku beside them, "First you're seeing ghosts, now you're telling us that this elf girl of yours has twice saved your life?"

"Hey, I'm not kidding guys," Muku replied, "She was really hurt...I don't know what that thing was that attacked us, but if it wasn't for her..."

"It's not that we're questioning you or anything, Muku-chan," Yumi attempted to reassure her, "But so far there's no hard concrete evidence to prove that any of this is real. Are you absolutely sure you didn't eat one of Gel's concoctions?"

"Do I look like I'm that stupid?" Muku sniffed, reaching into her bookbag and pulling something out to show them, "But if you're talking about physical evidence, what the heck does this look like?"

"Huh?" Sakura and Yumi both turned around to see the object in her hand, and then the former said, "Hey, that's one of Yui's scarves..."

"The ones she's always throwing around," Yumi finished for her, "But...what's that brown stuff? Did you stain it or something?"

"No, Baka," Muku snorted, "It's that girl's blood...I cleaned it off my hands when I went to the restroom before returning to class..."

"Blood?" Sakura leaned closer and studied it, "Doesn't look like any kind of bloodstains that I've ever seen before. Looks more like...battery acid, or something that discolors fabric."

"Maybe she's an alien," Yumi suggested.

"Oh yeah, get real," Sakura sniffed.

"No, I mean seriously," Yumi replied, "You know full well we've got aliens running around in our class. How else to you explain the Moroboshi twins?"

"Really weird genetics," Muku sobered, "You may be right about the alien thing...that monster that attacked us looked alien...but...I dunno...she seemed more like...a Tengu or something..."

"A Tengu?" Sakura did not sound near so dismissive this time, "Could be...we've got Oni and other weird stuff showing up all the time...and my Dad could probably tell us all about that. Maybe she really is an Elf, and maybe the reason that you're the only one who can see her is..."

"Is?" Muku asked as Sakura did not finish her own sentence.

Instead Sakura smiled and said, "Maybe she's a Fairy come to take you to her world...the world of the elves and spirits, ever think of that?"

"Could be," Yumi postulated, "I've heard they do that...fairies, that is...but-  
HEY! There's the person we ought to see to consult about this matter. HEY YUI! Over here!"

"Yui?" Muku asked when she turned to see a familiar figure wandering out from the bushes, looking as lost and clueless as was her usual wont, to which Muku groaned, "Oh no..."

"Where am I now?" Yui asked as she sighted her three friends, "Hey, how did you guys get to Hokkaido?"

"We're not in Hokkaido, Banana Brain," Sakura sniffed, "What's the matter, lose your compass again? Maybe you should try tying a string around your finger with the other end leading you to school."

"Very funny," Yui snarled as she reached for her umbrella, "Let's see how you look with your face flattened, Spatula-head..."

"Guys!" Yumi put up her hands and stepped into the "No Man's Zone" that literally cropped up every time Yui and Sakura were together, "Time out already! Yui...we need your help, you being an apprenticed Shrine maiden and all..."

"Just Shrine Maiden," Yui partially relaxed, "I do part-time work with my Mother at her temple, but I'm studying to be a Spiritualist when I..."

"Right," Yumi said as she snatched the kerchief from Muku's hand and presented it to Yui Hibiki, "Can you tell us anything about this? I mean...use that Spiritual Psycho-thing power of yours..."

"Psychometry?" Yui took the proffered scarf into her hand and then said, "Hey, this is one of mine...!"

"Was," Muku corrected, "You threw it at me, remember?"

"Never mind that, guys," Yumi insisted, "Yui...what can you tell by holding the thing in your hands?"

"Well...I..." Yui stared at the cloth for a few seconds, and then her eyes went wide and she gained a horrified expression.

All at once she dropped the scarf as though it were on fire and stood back with terror written on her face as she panted frantically for several moments before saying, "Where the heck did you get that?"

"I was in a fight," Muku explained, "Someone...got hurt...it's got her blood on it, and..."

"And she isn't human!" Yui responded, then paused before correcting herself, "I mean...she partly human...but there something...alien about her...and the thing that attacked you...that injured her...it's not human at all...it's...awful...!"

"Yeah, we figured that part out for ourselves," Sakura sniffed, "But what can you tell us about the girl, the one Muku says she keeps seeing whenever no one else is around..."

"Sad...so sad...and so lonely," Yui shivered, "She wants something...a...friend...I think...or maybe something more than that...she's watching you and is becoming an important part of her life, but with her comes...danger...Muku...you have to be on your guard around this one. She's not an enemy, but she brings with her more trouble than I think you're prepared to handle."

"Tell me something I don't already know," Muku sighed, bending to pick up the scarf, "Can you at least tell me what she is...who she is? She said her name was Rhea..."

"Rhea," Yui murmured, "Another name for the Earth...Rhea was the wife of Chronos and mother to the Gods...a Titan from the time before there was time, when the Earth was in chaos and the powers that be were in turmoil..."

"Sounds like you've been reading up on foreign mythology again," Sakura remarked as she cupped both hands behind her head and fleshed her shoulders, "Can you at least tell us if she's an Elf or a Tengu?"

Yui shook her head, "Not an elf...and not a Tengu...she is powerful...I can sense great spiritual power surrounding her, but she's something...more than human. I can't say anything more about her than that..."

"Well, at least we know that she's for real and not a figment of Muku-chan's imagination," Yumi smiled, "Hear that, Muku-chan? You're not going crazy...or at least, you're no crazier than the rest of us, even if you are seeing invisible people."

"So this girl's for real," Sakura frowned, "Why don't I find that reassuring?"

"Because you're paranoid and basically self-centered," Yui countered.

"What?" Sakura straightened up, "I don't have to take that from you...!"

"Guys?" Muku said in a feeble effort to stave off the inevitable, "Could we try and get through a single day without totalling half the neighborhood in another Catfight? I kind of promised my folks that I'd check in with them and explain why I had to skip practice. You'll cover for me with your father, won't you, Saku-chan?"

"Of course," Sakura replied, "We'll still have our match as soon as you're feeling up to it, and Dad's the sort who'll understand. Things like this happen to him all the time, you know..."

"Really?" Muku asked.

"Weeelll...not exactly, I suppose," Sakura replied, "But to hear the stories he and Mom tell, you'd think it did. At any rate, this elf girl's gotta show her face sometime when Yumi and me are around, so odds are we can ask her for ourselves just what the heck kind of weird stuff she'd gotten you involved with."

"Yes," Yumi remarked, "I'd like very much to meet with her myself. She sounds...like a very interesting person..."

Yui shook her head and said, "You guys are nuts! You got no idea what we're talking about here! This girl is nothing but trouble, I tell you...you should stay the heck away from her and not get messed up in anything she's involved with."

"Maybe that's true," Muku frowned, "But...I don't know that I have any choice about it. I guess either way we're gonna find out one way or another, right?"

Her friends nodded their heads in sage agreement, yet somehow Muku did not feel too comforted about that. She had the oddest sense that she would be seeing this Rhea before too long, and yet should could not say for certain whether she was looking forward to another meeting...or dreading it...either way she felt a curious anxiety as she wondered how this Rhea was doing with her injury, and wondered even more about the strange look in that girl's overly large eyes when Muku had asked about her injury, and why the thought of that was making her feel even more nervous...

"Heads up, sleepy head!" her father called out, causing Muku to start out of a semi-trance that she had fallen into.

Muku looked up in alarm as she saw the hokey puck zipping towards her head and only dodged out of the way by the last half second, hearing it carom off the plastic wall as it rebounded back onto the ice rink some meters away, to be intercepted by her mother.

"Too slow!" Akane cried as she moved into the way to intercept her husband's attempt at scoring a quick point. Moving her body and the heavy protection equipment that she was wearing, Akane easily caught the puck then held it aloft with a faintly smug expression. Her husband just smiled back at her and waited until she returned it before going back into action, scooping the thing up just inches ahead of Muku, whose hockey stick was a tad too far behind his.

"Got it again," her father declared before shooting another close-up shot at her mother, who again moved her body in time to block the shot with little apparent effort. Rather than exchange another round of cheerful barbs with Akane, however, Mikado turned with a look of genuine concern and examined his daughter's expression, then asked, "Is there something wrong today, Muku-chan? You're playing as though your mind is in several different places."

"I'm sorry, Dad," Muku replied, "Guess I'm just not on my game today. I've had a lot to do at school, and...I've been having weird dreams again..."

"Weird dreams?" her father looked puzzled, "Dreams are often a portal to our subconscious, little Starling. Maybe you should sit down and talk with your old man...is it boy trouble again? Are your friends from school giving you any problems?"

"No Dad, it's nothing like that," Muku replied, "It's okay...really. I mean...I want to keep playing, and Mom's giving us the eye again..."

"Uh oh," her father said in mock-horror, turning around to see Akane skating towards them, her expression one of cross vexation.

"You two...I swear," Akane shook her head, "You start to have a father-daughter conference in the middle of practice? What next...do we do martial arts and chat about the latest gossip?"

"Well, you do that all the time with your friends," Mikado said reasonably, looking ready to take evasive action should his volatile wife take umbrage with this simple observation.

"It's nothing, Mom," Muku reassured, "I was just telling Dad about my having dreams...it's nothing to do with schoolwork or with training, so you don't have to look so worried..."

"I'm your mother," Akane declared matter-of-factly, "That means it's my job to worry. What dreams? What's bothering so much that you can't keep your mind on training? And don't tell me it's nothing, I know that look...you inherited it from your father!"

"Wounded to the core I am," Mikado said in mock-pain, then gave Muku a comforting look and said, "You've always know that you can come to us with any problem that you have, Muku-chan...so...why not come clean and tell us what's troubling you? Is it Kuno's children again? I ought to have another word with him about this constant challenging that you get from both his son and daughter..."

"I can handle myself around the Kunos, Dad," Muku reassured, "Believe me, it's got nothing to do with them. I've just been...under a lot of stress lately...you know...with schoolwork and stuff..."

"Senzenen Muku Dori," Akane said crossly, "Why do I have this feeling that you're holding something back from us?"

"Still, we can't exactly force her to come clean if she doesn't want to," Mikado confided to his wife, "Besides, it may be that she doesn't want us getting involved. You remember what we were like when we were her age? You couldn't exactly bring yourself to ask for help from anybody..."

"While you were too stuck up to even admit when you needed help, Pretty Boy," Akane countered with a teasing note to her voice that belied her stern expression, "All right then, we won't press you, but if you can't cut whatever it is that's keeping you from doing your best in training...?"

"It's nothing to worry about, Mom," Muku said, "I just-huh?"

All at once she felt that curious prickling sensation traveling along up and down her spine, and then Muku shifted her eyes to take in the sight of mane of reddish-gold hair that she spied near to the other end of the hockey rink, and-  
-sure enough-there was Rhea standing there, not on the ice but staring across it with a look of trepidation.

"Eh?" Mikado was quick to catch his daughter's shift of attention and followed her gaze, only to see a fleeting shadow-form as the vision hastily vanished, disappearing from the spot as though she truly were a ghost and not truly a person.

"Who was that?" Akane asked, having only just the vaguest sense of someone having been there, and no stranger to characters who could come and go seemingly at will.

"You...saw her?" Muku asked without glancing at her parents.

"Her?" Senzenen turned around to look at Muku, "You mean there's another girl from your school who's been giving you trouble?"

"No!" Muku insisted, then hesitated before adding, "Well...not trouble exactly...she's...more like an acquaintance..."

"Oh really?" Akane asked with renewed interest, "Sounds familiar. I can remember back when having a new girl enter my life always signified the beginnings of trouble or some major kind of adventure..."

"You mean like that Prince fellow who tried to make off with your sister?" Senzenen asked, "What was his name again? Kyle? Corn?"

"It was Kirin, as you very well know," Akane made a face, "But I was thinking more of Lychee, the one who started it all, right before that mess where he did attempt to kidnap Kasumi. It's kind of hard to forget a girl who runs around with a trained elephant who radiates a tenth level battle aura..."

"Yes, that does seem to make a major impression," Senzenen stroked his chin as if only just remembering, "Oh well...if someone new in town is here to cause trouble, I'm sure you'll be more than able to put her to rights on that subject, won't you Muku-chan?"

"Ah," Muku said sheepishly, "It...really isn't like that either...in fact...I think she saved my life..."

"She what?" Akane reacted, "When did this happen?"

"A couple of days ago," Muku replied, chagrined at realizing that she had admitted that much aloud in front of her usually overprotective 'parental units' (as she sometimes was wont to call them before others), "We...kind of got into this fight, and she got hurt protecting me...and I haven't seen her since it happened...so..."

"You mean you didn't go to see her in the hospital?" Mikado asked.

"I don't even know which hospital she went to, or even if she went to any hospital," Muku replied, "She...took off after the fight...I didn't see where she went, and I couldn't follow, so..."

"So you're wondering if you're going to see her again?" Akane asked with unusually sharp insight.

"Um...well..." Muku silently wished she had kept her mouth shut. It was not like she had actually been laying awake at nights worrying where Rhea was and where she had gotten off to. Two full days had elapsed since the fight against the Venomoids and in that time she had wondered near constantly if the blonde elf girl had survived her injuries, and what she might be doing, and if there were some actual reason why this girl kept appearing and vanishing without warning.

But then, before she could answer, a voice behind her said, "Would it be...permissible if I could speak with you for myself?"

Muku's eyes got very round and then she whirled about on her skates and stared in disbelief at Rhea, who stood no more than three paces away from them, having appeared where she was once again without warning.

"Well...say now..." Mikado brightened up, "Who do we have-OOF!" he gasped as his wife affectionately elbowed him in the stomach.

"Leer on your own time, Lecher," Akane snorted, then turned to study the curious looking girl in the blue-and-green costume, saying aloud, "And you are...?"

"Rhea," the stranger bowed, "Kano Rhea. I'm...here to speak with your daughter..."

"Do tell?" Mikado asked, straightening up as he shook off the effects of Akane's elbow, "Rhea...as in the Earth Titan? Curious..."

"Are you here to challenge our daughter?" Akane asked.

"Oh no," Rhea sounded surprised by the very question, "I would never do that. I just want to...talk with her...and to give her something...something she needs."

"You what?" Muku asked, staring in mild disbelief.

"It's something I had made for you," Rhea held out a bracelet in one slender hand, "It's for your protection. It should keep away...your nightmares."

"Oh?" Muku asked, eyeing the plain golden ring, which glistened like highly polished metal.

"Is it some kind of charm or something?" Akane asked.

"Um...something like that," Rhea said shyly, "There is nothing harmful about it, I assure you..."

"May I see it then?" Senzenen asked, and when Rhea reluctantly offered it to him he held it up for close examination, "Interesting...it's not really metal...feels warm, almost like a kind of plastic..."

"It's neither metal nor plastic," Rhea assured, "It has...other uses than its plain form would suggest. If you wear it, then you won't be bothered again by the sort of...things...we had to go up against?"

"You're sure about that?" Muku asked, "Those...guys did look kind of nasty..."

"They are," Rhea replied, "But wear this and they will leave you alone...at least for a while anyway. Once again I want to apologize to you for involving you in something that was not of your intention. It...well...it is complicated to explain..."

"That I don't doubt," Mikado said as he offered the bracelet to Muku, "What about it, Muku-chan? Do you want to accept this? Normally I'd have qualms about you taking a gift from a stranger, but...since she did help you out, and she does seem more-or-less sincere...the choice is up to you..."

"Who says it is?" Akane asked, "Who said I was going to approve anyone giving an unsolicited gift to our daughter?"

"I understand that you may have some concerns with me," Rhea casually remarked, "And believe me, I would not be doing this if I did not have very good reasons. My own parents wanted me to keep a lower profile, but I convinced them that I had to do this, and...and it truly is my fault that Muku-chan is even involved in the affairs of our people..."

"Muku-chan?" Senzenen raised and eyebrow, "Who are...your people?"

"That's...what I mean about complicated," Rhea replied, turning back to Muku herself, "I would have come sooner, but my injuries needed further repair, and my parents were concerned..."

"Your parents?" Akane asked, "Are you new in town or something, because I'm pretty sure that I've never seen you around..."

"Actually...I've been here for quite some time, only...living in another province," Rhea replied, "But now that I've met Muku-chan, I've been thinking about coming here more often and..."

"Wait a minute," Muku said, "Slow down a bit, will you? I mean...we just met the other day and now you're thinking of living here in the same prefecture? Why?"

"Because you're my partner," Rhea said matter-of-factly, then covered her mouth with a surprised look in her expressions and added, "Oh...I should not have said that. I'm sorry..."

"Partner?" Mikado cocked an eyebrow, then gave Muku a very strange look, "Do you know anything about this?"

"No!" Muku cried a little too hastily, "I mean...I...what's this about you being my partner?"

"I'm...sorry," Rhea backed away, "I should go now...I just wanted to see you and to offer you the bracelet..."

"Wait!" Muku spoke without thinking, then suddenly realized something that she had recognized before now, "You're...not wearing any ice skates?"

"Oh?" Rhea glanced down at the ice upon which she was standing, then at Muku and asked, "Is there something wrong with that?"

"How can you even be standing upright?" Akane marveled.

"I have...very good balancing centers," Rhea replied, "And I am lighter on my feet than any Earth female...I mean...than a regular person..."

"Earth female, huh?" Mikado asked skeptically, "Well, just be careful you don't fall down, young lady. You could hurt yourself on the ice like that. Don't you know how to use ice skates?"

"Um...no," Rhea said sheepishly, "Not really."

"Haven't your parents ever taken you to an ice rink?" Akane asked incredulously.

"I...don't think that question has ever come up before," Rhea answered remarked with a peculiar expression.

"Where are you from?" Muku wondered, once again having the peculiar sense that the other girl was somehow both alien and yet entirely familiar.

"I'm from Earth," Rhea once again said matter-of-factly, "I was born on this planet, the same as you..."

"Come again?" Muku asked, her eyes by now almost as wide as Rhea's.

"Um...did I say something wrong?" Rhea asked, "I hope that you're not too offended..."

"You know," Akane murmured to her husband, "Something about her does sound awfully familiar..."

"If one closes his eyes they could almost imagine her as a younger Saotome Nodoka," Mikado remarked, "Or were you thinking more along the lines of your older sister?"

"Either way," Akane smiled, "Take your pick."

"Um...look," Muku shrugged, "I'm flattered about the present and all, but...if you want to spend some time with me, why don't you put on a pair of ice skates and we can go around the rink together. It's no problem, my folks have bought the place out for the rest of the day."

"But...I do not know how to skate," Rhea pointed out.

"Hey, no problem, it's easy," Muku smiled, "I'll show you how, there's nothing to it, and it's the least that I can do after you saved my life, right?"

"Well..." Rhea turned around shyly, a faint smile on her lips, "If...that is what you would like to do, and if it is of no trouble to your parents..."

Muku glanced over her shoulders, seeing her folks smiling back in confirmation, "No problem at all. In fact it'll be a blast, you'll see."

"Then..." Rhea brightened like the sun, "I would...love for you to teach me, Muku-chan."

Muku felt...very odd about that last part and winced slightly before saying, "Um...do you think maybe you might not call me 'chan' already? I mean, you hardly even know me...and it's embarrassing, know what I mean?"

"Oh," Rhea covered her mouth, "I...did not realize...I'll try and remember that, Muku-chan-san! Yes...I will...try..."

In spite of herself Muku could not help but feel amused at the verbal gaff. For some reason she just could not get too upset about this strange girl with her odd ways, and finding her very real rather than a phantom of her memories was a big relief besides. Spending a little more time with her might, after all, help unlock the mysteries surrounding this Rhea Kano, and that would be a good thing, right? Muku agreed mentally that it was, then set about the task of playing the instructor, unaware of the amused looks that her parents were turning her way while moving off to give her more distance. For once the whole the day was looking a bit brighter all ready as there was something about Rhea that seemed to banish away all of the shadows of her nightmares. Muku could not put her finger on just why this was so, but felt reasonably certain that the answer would come to her eventually...

...One way or another...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/C'thuwulf Dating Rituals: shadowmane

Things shift into high gear next time as more of Rhea's secrets are revealed in: "The C'thuwulf Waltz," or "Skating the Edge into Madness!" Be there!

X -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	3. Chapter 3

Earthchild03

The Earthchild

(An Iczer/Ranma crossover)

By Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi &amp; Others,  
with special thanks to Johannes Huber for ideas and inspiration)

Chapter Three.

Rhea's rump hit the ice with a resounding "thump" as she failed for the third consecutive time to master the task of remaining upright on these metal planes called "ice-skates." Muku's laugh only added to her chagrin as it made her feel both foolish and ineffectual in the eyes of her partner. She was tempted to phase out and suffer her humiliation in private, but...being cautioned not to display her full range of powers before nominal outsiders, she fought down this urge and simply accepted the rather obvious fact that skating on ice had not been numbered among her various pre-programmed talents.

But then she saw Muku offer a hand for the purpose of assisting her back to her feet and Rhea forgot all about her brief humiliation. This display of sympathy without condescension in her partner's expression made Muku feel...somewhat better about falling down the way she had, even if her pride did smart a little.

"Are you all right?" Muku asked as Rhea accepted the hand, then grunted a little as she helped to bring her back to a standing position, "Oof...you're heavy..."

"I am...somewhat more compact than you," Rhea replied, not adding that her structural density was roughly 1.3 times that of a normal human, "But I am operating within acceptable parameters."

"Uh...whatever," Muku replied, only to give a "WHOOP!" as Rhea overbalanced once again, this time managing to drag the both of them down to the ice in a rude "thump" that was somewhat unnerving to their mutual state of composure.

Off to the side Mikado just shook his head ruefully and stated, "Something about this whole situation seems somehow familiar..."

"It does bring back memories," Akane said with a rueful expression, "But seriously, Miki...what do you make of that new girl? I mean...with those ears and eyes..."

"She's definitely not from around here," Mikado agreed, "A stranger in more than one sense of the word...but she doesn't seem too threatening, and you can tell that Muku seems to like her."

"I guess," Akane said more dubiously, "But we both know that you can't judge a book by its cover. We've both been there often enough to know what it's like when someone is holding back secrets, and you'll notice that she never did give us a straight answer to any of our questions?"

"I'm sure she has her reasons," Mikado noted, "And as long as they're not threatening to anyone we know, I'm willing to let her keep them...for now."

"Maybe so," Akane rumbled ominously, "But I'm going to keep an eye on this one to see that she doesn't spell hidden trouble for our Muku..."

Muku's mind was...somewhere else at that very moment as she found herself laying flat on her back staring up at a disconcerted Rhea, who had somehow managed to land almost on top of her, and with a very chagrined expression. Something about this other girl's large green eyes disturbed Muku more than words could convey, and she found herself truly studying the alien features of this Rhea as though seeing her for the first time...even if there was that haunting sense of having met her before on some prior occasion.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Rhea said as she climbed back off of Muku, then sat disconsolately on the ice with her knees folded under her, "I didn't mean to do that..."

"Uh...I'm sure you didn't," Muku replied, wondering just why she felt like blushing at a time like this. She sat up and pushed herself back to her feet with the ease of long practice then offered her hand again and said, "Let's try it again...only don't try so hard this time. Concentrate on balance and let your feet find their footing."

"Um..." Rhea looked away, "I'd rather not...just yet...I'd much rather sit here and watch you for now, if...you don't mind, that is..."

"Sit on the ice?" Muku blinked, "But you'll freeze your butt off doing that."

"I can manage," Rhea looked up at her with an earnest expression, "Please? I'd just like to watch you for now...you make this seem to easy."

"It is easy...when you know how," Muku replied, giving up on insisting as she decided a little demonstration would be in order, "Heck, for me it's second nature. Just watch what I do and you'll see how you can balance on ice without falling."

With that Muku began skating off for a bit, doing simple maneuvers at first before moving to the more elegant steps of figure skating, even looping a loop around Rhea as she performed a near-flawless figure eight, all the while paying coy looks at her new friend, who seemed to be watching her intently with an almost unblinking expression.

Rhea was fascinated even as she thoroughly studied Muku's every movement, committing every nuance to memory even as her mind rapidly processed complex equations and vast amounts of raw data with an ease that would have confounded a supercomputer. Understanding the basic dimensions of volume and mass in Muku'' body, it was a simple matter to calculate balanced ratios and equate them to various muscle movements to determine how a coordinated pattern was reached. Muku really did have her style down to a flawless artform, and as Rhea studied her she semi-consciously tensed and worked her own muscles in accord to limber them up without seeming to move, determining how her own body should act under those conditions once compensations were allowed for size, mass and internal construction. Added to this was an unconscious awareness of Muku's own enjoyment of figure skating, the freedom and ease with which she conquered this frozen element to arrive at a near perfect gestalt of mind and body in full integration. Just considering the implications of that caused Rhea to sigh with undisguised admiration.

At the end Muku arrived back before Rhea and said, "You see? There's nothing to it with a little bit of practice. Now, do you want to try standing up again?"

"Yes," Rhea answered, and then-to Muku's astonishment-she reached down and pressed her bare hands against the ice and pushed herself back to her feet, standing erect this time with none of her usual wobbling. In fact her stance perfectly mirrored Muku's, so much so that her smile caused Muku to feel a bit...funny over the whole matter.

"You're getting it now?" Muku asked.

"Yes, I think so," Rhea nodded, "Thanks to you for showing me. Now...is this how it is supposed to be done?"

With that the fiery-gold haired Rhea proceeded to skate backwards then turn about in a perfect pirouette before moving off to perform a seemingly effortless circle that she continued around the astonished Muku, duplicating every move that had been made down to the last little nuance, completing her efforts by arriving back in front of a gaping Muku.

"Well?" Rhea asked, "Did I perform that maneuver correctly?"

Muku slowly closed her mouth and scowled, "Are you making fun of me?"

"No," Rhea replied in genuine surprise, "Why would I do that?"

"You've just been pretending to be bad at skating, haven't you?" Muku accused, "There's no way you could be that good without practice!"

"But I did everything the way you showed me," Rhea replied with matter-of-fact innocence.

"Don't lie to me!" Muku snapped, getting genuinely angry.

"I would never lie to you," Rhea said with guileless eyes staring up into Muku's, "It is not in my nature."

Ordinarily Muku would have flown off the handle and gotten angry at that denial, but...there was something about this strange girl's curious lack of evasion and dissembly that defused much of that anger and put to lie Muku's suspicions of ill motives or attempts at deceiving her. Slowly the impossible began to dawn on her and in a low voice of disbelief she said, "You...learned all of that by watching me?"

"I am a quick study," Rhea replied, "Once I understood the principle, as you have shown it to me, it was a simple matter of following your moves and copying the motions of your body."

Muku took a moment to put everything together and then said, "Wait...just a minute here. You mean you've never seen people skating before?"

"Before today?" Rhea replied, "No...but I have seen in your mind how much you enjoy skating, how much it gives you pleasure..."

"You've been in my mind?" Muku started to get angry again, "What are you, some kind of mind reader?"

"No," Rhea answered, "But with you I am sensitive to your thoughts and memories because we have begun Synchronization. It is the reason why I approached you from the beginning...because I recognized in you the one person who most closely resonates with me upon a psychic level..."

Muku shook her head to clear it, "I'm not getting something here. What are you saying...that the two of us are soul mates or something?"

"If you like," Rhea replied, "The two of us have begun to match resonances. The process began before I met you. It is how I knew that you existed, that I could find you if I searched, and from all the humans who live in this world you are the one who has what I most need to obtain completion."

"But...the two of us are nothing alike!" Muku insisted, "We're entirely different people!"

"Yes," Muku replied with a bedazzling smile, "And that is what makes the process so fascinating for the both of us. I sense in you a kinship that goes much deeper than personality. You have elements that I need to complete my own nature, even as I have aspects of my personality that compliment yours and make us perfectly suited to be partners."

"Ah..." without meaning to Muku began to back away a little, "Look...I'm not sure what crazy ideas you have about me, but...look, I'm straight...I mean...it's flattering and all, but you're really not my type, know what I mean...?"

"What is your type then?" Muku seemed peculiarly fascinated by the question, "I seem to sense that you have strong feelings for one who goes by the name of Brandon..."

"What?" Muku blinked, "Whatever gave you a fool idea like that?"

"He is in your thoughts," Rhea replied, "You consider him an enemy and an annoyance, and yet you are also attracted towards him, and you are annoyed about that attraction..."

"What?" Muku started, "How could you-I mean-that's completely ridiculous! I don't give a rat's ass about that stuck-up, opinionated..."

"You are also upset because he does not seem to notice that you are a woman," Rhea continued, "He does care for you, which is why he has been after you for a date, but because of his male pride he seeks to impress on you his masculine qualities by pretending to attack you in a series of calculated challenge matches. How curious...are human dating methods always so perverse?"

"Human?" Muku frowned as she stared at the girl, "And what are you?"

"I am...half human," the blonde Rhea replied with a touch of hesitation, "But I belong to the C'thuwulf, who are the creators of at least one of my parents..."

"Kuthu-what?" Muku repeated.

"I'm sorry," Rhea glanced down, "I have said too much already. My aunt will be displeased with me...but I could not help for telling you these things...because you asked me."

"Because I asked you," Muku numbly repeated, "And you'll answer any question that I ask?"

"If I am allowed to do so," Rhea replied with a sheepish, almost apologetic expression, "I want to be honest with you, to open myself to you, but...there is much that I cannot tell you...not yet...not until the time is right for such disclosures. I...cannot go against the commands of my parents or my teacher, much though I would want to do so. You deserve to know everything and I would hold none of it back, but...not just yet. Soon, perhaps very soon..."

"Why not now?" Muku asked, "What's with the mysterious act? What are you hiding from me? Who are you?"

"I am your partner," Rhea replied, "And I...would like to be your friend. I know that this is sudden, but..."

"Sudden?" Muku waved her arms, "You don't even know me, and I sure as heck don't know you!"

"But I would like to know you," Rhea replied, "I would like to know everything that there is to know about you. From the moment that I first became aware that you existed I have wanted to be a part of your world, to share with you a part of mine. I know it must seem sudden by the way your people judge such things, but..."

"I don't believe this," Muku shook her head, "Why me?"

"Because you are the one who can make me whole," Rhea replied, "The one who will make me fully human. You are a part of me now as surely as my own right arm, just as I have become a part of your world..."

"I don't have to accept this," Muku turned away, "Do whatever you like but...just leave me alone..."

"I understand," Rhea lowered her gaze again, "You need time to adjust to everything, and I wish that I could permit you that time, but..."

"Look," Muku tried again, "You're a nice girl and all that, but...this just isn't my bag, you know what I mean?"

"No," Rhea replied, then hesitantly added, "Not exactly, but I am trying to better understand you."

"Well good for you," Muku said as she completed the act of turning fully away from the other woman, "Just...do it without me, okay...?"

"Did you know that she also has an interest in you?" Rhea asked, speaking on impulse as she felt the need to prolong the conversation.

Muku paused then half-turned around, "Who?"

"The one you call Sakura," Rhea explained, "I could feel her emotions when she was around you, how much she likes you and yet denies her feelings of attraction."

Muku fully turned around and said, "How the hell could you know that?"

"The question is why you do not seem to be aware of this," Rhea seemed genuinely puzzled by the question, "Why is it that human beings feel the need to deceive themselves by pretending to be something that they are not? How can you blind yourselves to the thoughts and feelings of others when it is much simpler and far more rewarding to open yourselves to one another? It is a very strange way to live, and yet your entire civilization seems to be based on the premise that it is better to hide your feelings than it is to express them? I do not mean to feel superior nor to act judgmental, this is simply how I interpret affairs that I do not understand. I am...attempting to learn...to see things in new ways, to try and understand how you see them in your world..."

"In...my world?" Muku repeated, "Then...what world do you come from?"

"I come from Earth," Rhea replied, "I live in the Earth...I was born of this planet, but I...was raised somewhere else."

"Somewhere else?" Muku really began to take notice of the differences between this girl and a normal human woman. Rhea was a little shorter than herself, more wiry and compact, slender and graceful in a way that truly was elfin with beautiful, elegantly slanting features, large green eyes and a face that was full of such innocence and wonder that it was obvious at just a glance that this girl was not entirely...human, "What are you?"

"I am C'thuwulf," Rhea replied, then covered her mouth again and added, "I...can't say more than that...not without permission. My Auntie will be very cross with me, and my parents..."

"Are...not from around here?" Muku replied a bit numbly.

Rhea nodded her head, "I am sorry...I did not mean to make it sound if I am totally...alien to you...I want to be your friend, but I will understand if you need time in order to...accept me for what I am..."

Muku lifted a finger in order to make a point and said, "Let me get something straight...this place...wherever you come from...they don't have skating, and you've never before been on ice skates?"

"That is correct," Rhea replied, "Where I live we have...different customs...though I believe that my mother knows something about skating. I will ask her the next time I see her..."

"Hmmm..." Muku smiled, getting an idea and deciding to test it, "In other words, you've never seen anyone do...this?"

And with that Muku moved a bit off and started skating again, only this time she used more advanced maneuvers than the simple figure eight that she had employed before, doing a leap with a double turn and landing flawlessly as she started to build up more and more momentum, then going into a full-bore turn that carried her the length and width of the arena before turning back and shooting off towards the center, making a leaping twirl and spinning in the air three full times before landing again and spinning off her excess momentum, then bending herself backwards so that her long hair brushed the ice along with her skates (but not one with the other...there was no reason to court that particular sort of disaster, merely showing off in front of her new...companion).

And all the while Rhea stood breathless, watching and absorbing every detail, even as Muku's parents watched the both of them from the sidelines, not wanting to crowd their daughter's action.

"Looks like Muku-chan's really into showing off for this one," Mikado mused, "I guess her new friends has really made an impression."

"Maybe so," Akane frowned, "But I'm a little unsure about this new girl. I mean...the way she picked up on skating just now...it's not normal."

"You mean unlike your old Ex?" Mikado mused.

"That's different, and you know it," Akane huffed, "Ranma could always learn new things just by observing, but skating took time for him, and even when we had that match he wasn't able to really compete with you on the same footing..."

"That may be so," Mikado said with unusual quiet in his tone, "But he still managed to teach me a valuable lesson about life."

For a moment the both of them relived an event in their mutual past, a point of sober reflection, when a boy had just taken punishing damage protecting his female partner, defying the infamous "Couple Cleaver" of the notorious "Golden Pair," and shrugging off his injuries to rise up again like some defiant phoenix from its ashes.

"You wanna another part of me, Pal?" that boy had declared, barely able to stand yet making fists in a show of bravado.

"How can you still be standing like that?" a younger, brasher Mikado had declared, "That impact should have broken every bone in your body..."

"Hah, it takes more than you've got to put me down, you loser!" the other boy had declared.

"Oh really?" asked a younger Akane, who proceeded to tap the other boy in the ribs, causing him to convulse with uncontrollable spasms.

Mikado was used to seeing defiance in his opponents and his usual response was to flip his head back and look down his nose at the "lesser beings" who troubled themselves to stand against Mikado Senzenen. But...this time he actually paused to consider the plight of the other boy, reckoning on what fierce courage it had taken to risk himself as he had in order to protect his partner. The boy had not let go, had willingly put himself in harms way in order to spare her sharing his injuries, and thus made his own that much worse in passing. There was more than courage on display here, there was actual rude nobility and chivalry in the gesture, and that thought made Mikado feel...very odd for some strange reason.

Mikado may have been brash, headstrong, conceited and even contemptful towards those whom he regarded as his social "inferiors," but he did have a sense of what was right and wrong...at least by his aristocratic lights. He was many things, but far from a coward...so naturally he wondered if he would have put himself in harms way like that to protect his own partner...to protect...Azusa?

It was to laugh! The annoying little twit who was the other half of the Golden Pair was a source of great embarrassment to him, a conceited little girl with a Kleptomaniac's penchant for "acquiring" things that did not belong to her, then giving them cute French names and adding them to her "collection." This whole match was being fought over one such "acquisition," a pet pig belonging to the girl named Akane. Mikado could not believe that his idiot parents had even talked about possibly engaging him to Azusa...as if he could ever tie himself down to only one woman! Women were certainly to be prized and fought over, and he was fighting for the right to kiss this fair Akane...but...would he have risked his own neck in order to protect a girl from certain injury, even death? Would he risk his own handsome face and deny his charms to the many women upon whom he had yet to bestow his favors?

That thought did something that no amount of taunting could have done with a Senzenen...it made him feel...small...somehow less great than he knew himself to be. That this...commoner would show more rude courage than himself was simply unthinkable...and yet to take advantage of his injuries and state of incapacitation was...wrong...wrong by Mikado's own light. He wanted a worthy opponent, and surely this Ranma would become such a figure over time if given the chance to recover his strength. The boy lacked art and style in his techniques, but he had raw determination...and in that Mikado saw great potential.

And so it was that he, the great Mikado Senzenen, turned away and said, "This is folly...there is no way that you can continue in your current state, and I do not fight against cripples. You'll need time to regain your strength, and then we can continue this, if you like..."

"Don't...turn...your back...on me...you arrogant...jackass...!" Ranma had gritted between clenched teeth, "I'm still gonna paste you one..."

"Ridiculous," Mikado replied, "You can barely even stand up on your skates, and yet you would challenge me to continue?"

"It's like I said before," Ranma seemed to summon some inner strength before continuing, "It ain't got nothing to do with nuthin', but this here is a manly fight, and there's no way I'm letting you have your way with Akane."

"Do you love her that much that you would risk death for her?" Mikado asked.

"Whaa-?" panic and uncertainty replaced raw determination, and then Ranma hastily said, "What kind of a fool question is that? I ain't in love with the Tomboy, I just ain't gonna let you get away with kissing her, that's all!"

That response had earned a cross look from his companion, but before she could take her nominal defender to task for the insult he had just offered a tarp fell over both of their heads as someone new in the arena cried, "Then let someone fight for Akane who does care, you baka!"

And that was when matters took a turn for the strange, as the new boy (named Hibiki, for those who could not guess) had landed in the arena, pouring water over Ranma's head, then wrapped a body up in the tarp and hurled them into the bleachers, then taking up a stance on a pair of skates while a short redhead took the place of Akane.

"Now you're fighting against a real man!" the angry lost boy had declared, "Akane and I will dust up the place with you if you even try to do anything untoward with her..."

"Akane?" Senzenen glanced around, "Where is she?"

"Huh?" the lost boy asked as he glanced towards his side, "She's right...-  
YIKES!"

"Baaa-kaaa," growled the redhead who was now standing beside him...

Senzenen shook his head to clear away the memories then gave a rueful smile, "I was the Baka back then, but how was I to know that the redhead was your fianc e, or that the other boy was your pet and rival for your affections?"

"Oh stop it," Akane huffed, "Like I want to remember what a mess my life was in back then. That stupid Ryoga, always rushing in to my rescue and picking fights with that clueless Ranma, and me even more clueless about why the two of them were always fighting..."

"We were very different people back then," Mikado sighed, "It took a lot of growing up for us to get where we are today...most on my part, but if I had to do it all over again...I wouldn't change a thing, wife."

"Does that mean you're completely cured and never chase other women?" Akane eyed him slyly.

"These days I'm strictly a 'look but don't touch' kind of guy...all other women ceased to have any other kind of meaning when you entered my life. You were my angel of obsession, my guiding light and hope for salvation..."

"Good answer," Akane sniffed, "But don't act so innocent, Miki-chan...I saw you scoping out Muku's new girlfriend. Don't tell me you didn't notice that she's quite a hotie."

"She's a little too young for my tastes," Mikado replied, "But now...if her mother looks even half as foxy...OOOF!" he grunted as his wife playfully planted her elbow in his stomach.

"That's what I figured," she sniffed, but she was in much too good a mood to actually be angry over her husband's teasing admission.

Muku finished out her Olympic-level form and came to an abrupt halt in front of a breathless Rhea, then said, "Think you can do that, now that you've seen it?"

Rhea actually seemed to consider the question before shaking her head in a negative manner, "I'm afraid that I will have to practice before I can get that good. Simply studying your form is not the same as absorbing your style, and there is such a beauty in the way you move...as if you were born to do this. The emotions I sense in you are so beautiful...such joy...it's so amazing..."

"Uh...yeah...well..." Muku found herself flushing again, surprisingly flustered over the compliment and the way the other girl was looking at her with undisguised admiration, "I've been doing this nearly all of my life...as soon as I was able to stand upright my dad put me in a pair of skates and...well...skating is kind of like a hobby for me. For them it really is a profession."

"I would love to learn how to skate like you," Rhea said, "I will commit everything to memory and study your form in order to perfect it. It will take me at least a couple of days, but then I will show you what I have learned when I am ready."

"Ah...yeah...right," Muku swallowed.

"I sense that...in your memories...you parents skate together," Rhea hesitated before continuing, "I would love to skate with you like that. Why is it that you do not already have a partner?"

"Um...well..." Muku also hesitated, "I guess...I just never found anyone good enough to...do it with me...I mean...Sakura likes to skate, but she isn't as wild about it as me, and Yumi's an indifferent skater...while Brandon..." her tone turned sour about this point, "He hates skating...I think he's afraid that I'll show him up or something. He's like that a lot...can't stand the idea that I might actually be better than he is, the Chauvinist..."

"Then...you would not mind if I could become good enough to be your partner?" Rhea asked with an earnest look of anticipation.

"Uh...well..." Muku felt along the edge of her collar, wondering why her skating leotard was feeling tight all of a sudden, not to mention the light protective padding underneath that she wore when in combat training with her parents.

"I promise you that I will get better," Rhea assured her, "But now...I must return to my home. I will be back again when I am ready. Please keep the bracelet on you at all times, and when I return..."

Muku sensed that the other girl was about to pull another of her infamous fade-  
outs and suddenly found the courage to say, "Wait up...do you have to go already? I mean...wouldn't you like to go out and get a burger or something? I don't know about you, but...I'm starving."

"You mean...eat human food with you?" a look of genuine wonder crossed the other girl's fair features, "Is this what you would call a...date?"

"Date?" Muku blinked then blurted, "Who said anything about dating? I mean...I just wanted to hang out with you a bit...find out more about this place where you're from..."

A smile that would have put the radiant sun to shame came over Rhea's features as she replied, "Believe me...I would love nothing better than to...hang out with you...but I have to return and report in to my parents...and my Aunt would be very cross with me if I am late for any reason..."

"Are you sure you can't convince them that it's for a worthy cause?" Muku inclined her head to the side and put on her best "cute girl" act, the kind that usually worked even on her parents.

Rhea sadly shook her head and replied, "You don't know my aunt...she is a real martinet over such things, and she has been my personal trainer for as long as I can remember..."

"You mean...like a Sensei, huh?" Muku sighed, "I know what they can be like..."

"Then you understand," Rhea smiled, "But next time I will ask permission if I can...hang out with you some more. Thank you very much for teaching me about skating...your joy is now my joy, and I am forever grateful."

With that the other girl moved forward, stood on tip-toes, almost seeming to float over the ice as she brought her face up beside Muku's and...KISSED the other girl on the cheek, causing every sense in Muku's body to react as if she were on fire. It was a brief peck, just a show of casual affection, and yet Muku felt as though she had been electrified and remained standing there with a stunned expression long after Rhea vanished into nothingness, surprising both of her parents.

"Did you see that?" Akane gasped.

"Indeed," Mikado remarked, "Muku's friend obviously has...some interesting talents."

"And I thought we'd seen everything," Akane shook her head in amazement, "Mark me well, Miki-chan, that girl is going to spell trouble for our Muku."

"Perhaps," Mikado remarked, "But then again...is there any other kind who visits our fine province of Nerima?"

"Good point," Akane sighed, "I just hope Muku knows what she's getting into, involving herself with someone like that..."

"If she knew what was coming it would be less fun, don't you think?" Mikado replied, "Most of the real enjoyment in life is finding out what happens next don't you agree, wife?"

"Oh yeah...fun," Akane rolled her eyes, "Whatever would life be like without it...?"

She did not, of course, add the thought that she would have been enormously tempted to find out the answer to that rhetorical question, nor did she expect to ever fully understand what "normalcy" meant for people who never lived out any sort of grand adventure. To her such a life would have been as fantastic as it was inconceivable, for life with Mikado had been one endless adventure, and-  
-in total honesty, though she would have denied it had she been asked-she would not have had it any other way. She just hoped that Muku could survive whatever perverse whims fate had in store for her in the coming cycle...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Eternal Stories: shadowmane

Matters continue to gain greater momentum as forces congeal around both Muku and Rhea, while the latter's "Aunt" goes on a date with her own life companion, and yet more revelations are in store for Muku in, "White Starling Surprises," or, "That was no Lady, that was my Iczer!" Be there!

X -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	4. Chapter 4

Earthchild04

The Earthchild

(An Iczer/Ranma 1/2 Crossover)

by Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi &amp; Others,  
with special thanks to Johannes Huber for ideas and illustrations!)

Chapter Four.

"Sorry I'm late, Sayoko-chan," said a statuesque redhead as she sat down at a table in a posh restaurant caf , "I got a bit hung up at work, but things seem to have settled down for the moment."

"No problem, Ni-chan," the other woman said brightly, "I can hardly expect you to just drop everything with your responsibilities as Base Commander and all that. You look great in that dress, by the way...who picked it out for you, Sepia?"

"Why yes," said the redhead in question, who drew more than a few stares from the other patrons for her height and slender build, to say nothing of her largish almond-shaped eyes and distinctively slanted features, and who indeed did look fetching in the dark green dress that she was wearing in lieu of her usual battle armor, "Sepia said that it might...how is it you Earthers put things? Set the right mood and all that...and, may I say that you also look particularly attractive in what you are wearing, Sayoko-chan?"

The pretty woman with the sort brown hair colored in a pretty manner, her own slender frame set off by the light yellow business dress that she had chosen to adopt for the evening, which gave her the appearance of a rare flower in the eyes of her exquisite partner, "Why thank you, but I'll bet you say that to all the pretty girls who catch your fancy..."

"Just to you," the redhead said sincerely, her smile as rare as it was engaging, "You are the center of my world...but you already know this. In all the world there is none like you, and that is why I chose you as my partner."

"And here I thought you were just using me for sex," responded Sayoko Kai with an impish smile, enjoying the way the other woman colored at the boldness of that statement, "Now you see? You can be human when you want to be, you just need to learn how to relax more often and let your hair down a little. There's no reason why you have to be on duty twenty-four-seven..."

"Yes there is," the redhead said sadly, "I am an Iczer, it is my duty to always stand on duty..."

"And what does that make me?" Sayoko asked, "Your backup battery power? I'm your partner in more than just name, you know...what affects you affect me, and don't you ever forget this."

"You are the only one who ever talks to me like this," the redhead said with a rueful expression, "The only one who truly understands me. Even my sisters are not as close to me as you, and they have their own pursuits and private agendas to follow. My duty is the defense of Gamora Base..."

"But you also have a duty to me, and a duty to yourself to have a good time every once in a while," Sayoko pointed out, "And besides...don't take this the wrong way, but you're really not all that hard a person for me to figure out, Two. I like you for what you are...even if you did once try to crush me under your heel like an insect..."

Despite herself Iczer Two colored at the memory, which came from a different time and place, "That...never really happened, you know. That was in the **other** timeline...the one my sister canceled out. I am surprised that you remember..."

"I remember through you," Sayoko pointed out, "It's in your memories, you know...the irony you feel about almost stepping on your own partner. True at the time I was little more than a rug-rat, just an annoying, whiny little brat who was calling out encouragement to your enemy, and so you thought to get rid of me and make me a grease spot on your treads, and true-as you say-that timeline never really happened, but it doesn't make it any less real to you, does it?"

"No," Iczer Two glanced down, staring disconsolately at the table before them, "I was a very different construct at the time...the product of my now-sworn enemies, created for the purpose of fratricide against my older sister. It was in another life, though...I try not to think about it."

"I' m just glad for all our sakes that you changed your mind and decided to fight for the good guys," Sayoko pointed out.

"It was my sisters who taught me the folly of my ways...and Nagisa," the redhead said somberly, "When I saw the closeness of the bond that existed between Iczer One and her partner...I was jealous...and not a little bit frightened. The two of them combined could achieve a level of Synchronization that I could not hope to equal, and I wanted that power for myself. When Nagisa would not yield herself to me I tried to set her against my own sister...and I lost. All I achieved was my own downfall. I remember the pain of dying, but not just of dying...of dying alone and unloved, without another to give my life purpose and meaning. You fulfilled that purpose and more, and that is why I love you with all my being, with everything I am or ever will be."

Sayoko reached across the table and cupped the hand of her partner, smiling as she said simply, "You don't have to be alone, you never need to be alone with me in the picture. The past is the past and the present is all that truly matters..."

"Maybe to you this is so," Iczer Two said sadly, "But the past has a way of returning to haunt us, like our memories. Do you remember when Neos resurrected me in her plot to destroy the Earth and my two sisters? What a fool she was to believe that I cared one whit for her plans of conquest...all I craved was the battle...and another chance to fight against my sisters. Iczer Three was easy...she was young and inexperienced, not fully in command of her power, and she lacked a proper partner. She was borrowing energies from Nagisa, who was bonded to Iczer One. There was no true Synchronization between them, and so her defeat was a trivial thing...so much so that it lacked any real meaning. Only my fight with Iczer One mattered...and in that battle I knew a true equal."

"Personally I think you lost that one deliberately," Sayoko said, "You didn't really want to win against her, you just wanted to die a glorious battle, like a warrior. I'm glad you didn't though...I'm glad Iczer One showed you mercy."

"Mercy," Iczer Two quirked a smile of some irony, "There was a time I would have sneered at the very sound of that word...but...the hate and anger I felt were never truly mine. I was the product of an insane mind commanding an insane machine whose only purpose was the destruction of all life. I was never truly alive until I met you...I never truly cared about my own life...until you were in it and a part of me. My life began the moment I knew you were my partner."

"Took you long enough to figure that out," Sayoko gently teased back, "I hope you don't mind, I took the liberty of ordering you dinner. It should be ready any time now, and don't give me any lip. I know full well that you have a stomach and can eat regular foods, just like a human. You can't live on Amniosynthetic fluids alone, you know..."

"Actually I can," Iczer Two replied, "But it isn't as pleasant as regular eating. By the way...how did you know what time I would show up?"

"Hey, it's my job to know these things," Sayoko smiled, "I'm your partner, right?"

"You and no other," Iczer Two gently squeezed back the hand that cupped hers and for a moment the two of them just stared across the space of their table without saying a word, letting the flow of their thoughts through their inner rapport do all their talking for them.

But then their waiter arrived with trays of food ready to serve them, and the two companions reluctantly let go of each other in order to make like a regular couple out on a date together.

"So," Sayoko said after several minutes had elapsed of pleasant eating and sipping of wine in relative silence, "What do you think of a regular human establishment when you're not trying to destroy it?"

"Ouch," Iczer Two half-chuckled, "I think I deserve that. Well...it is pleasant enough, this Earth establishment, but if we were back in New Gamora there wouldn't be as many staring at us..."

"Staring at us?" Sayoko quipped, "I thought they were staring at me, thinking what a lucky girl I am to have such a ravishing partner."

Iczer Two could not help but smile at that, but before things got any more personal between them a familiar warning sense came across her sensory net, and all at once her battle reflexes came to the fore, causing her to scan the restaurant in a tell-tell manner that her partner could not possibly miss interpreting.

"What...here?" Sayoko asked in sudden nervousness.

"Our enemies do not respect time, place or personal business, it would seem," Iczer Two replied, not bothering to add the unspoken thought 'be ready.'

All at once it felt as though a chill passed over the room, and then everything shifted in tone and coloration, which meant only one thing to the experienced partners, which fell to Sayoko to make official, "We've been pulled into subspace!"

"My ladies," said the waiter, who had mysteriously appeared beside their table, "Would you like any desert to go with your food?"

Even before the two women backed out of their chairs the man's form erupted into something far less pleasant or remotely even human with tentacles that lashed out at where they had been sitting mere instants before, even as the man's face split open to reveal a massive eyeball.

"No thanks!" Sayoko said as she ducked and rolled out of the way of the attack, "Trying to watch my figure and all of that...Reboot!"

As she said this word the handbag that she nominally carried suddenly opened wide and from its gaping maw appeared a number of articles that flew towards Sayoko, who straightened up to receive them. These articles attached themselves to her body, and a moment later the dark haired Japanese girl stood ready and alert in a form-fitting (yet oddly revealing) style of hi-tech armor.

"No need to appear to this social gathering out of fashion," Iczer Two remarked as she touched her wrist bracelet, and all at once her stylish dress was replaced by an ebony armor with golden lacing on its outline, "Now we're ready to party."

Sayoko was first to have her beam sword in hand, and no sooner did she register another attacker coming at her from one side then she was slashing away at tentacles with the precision of a born sword master. Her partner was hardly slow to follow her example, dispatching the waiter with a few quick and efficient strokes before dealing with two more of his companions that cropped up out of no where to flank her.

"That poor guy," Sayoko said as she and her partner fell into back-to-back stances, sparing a glance at where the waiter had been standing a few moments before hand, "I kind of liked him...he gave good recommendations for the menu."

"Let's just hope he wasn't taken over before he served us our food," Iczer Two said somberly, "I'd rather hate to find out that I was poisoned in the middle of a fight."

"Yeah, that would be just too clich , huh?" Sayoko agreed, "Not to mention sucking big time. What do you think these guys are after, though? They're too wimpy to be a real threat to the both of us."

"I don't know," Iczer Two rumbled, "But be ready...just in case."

"Heh, I was born ready, Partner," Sayoko smiled, "And this is just the sort of thing you were made for."

"True enough," Iczer Two said a bit sadly, "And normally I'd enjoy a good fight as much as the next construct, but I was hoping for something a little less...combative with you, if you take my meaning."

"Oh yeah," Sayoko smiled, "Tell you what, though...after we polish off these creeps, then we can celebrate with a real party."

"As you humans say, it is a deal," Iczer Two agreed, "Now...if our enemies would be so accommodating as to show their real hand..."

No sooner were those words past her lips when all at once the ground around them rose up to contain them in a globe of force that was ruby-tinged and leant one a very ominous feeling.

"What the-?" Sayoko gasped as she tested the globe and found her beam sword was repelled off of its surface.

"What manner of shielding is this?" Iczer two tried her own beam sword, then struck with a fist, only to have it bounce off the interior of the globe, so she started to gesture when Sayoko sensed her next impending movement.

"NO WAIT-!" her human partner cried out as a short burst of plasma energy leaped from Iczer-Two's fingers, only to ricochet off the walls and go caroming insanely within the globe, bounding around the interior at near the speed of light before impacting off of Sayoko's own shielding, which caused her to wince but did not apparent damage.

"Sayoko-chan-!" the redheaded warrior cried out as she felt the minor discomfort of the energy discharge as though someone had stuck a needle in her flesh.

"WOULD YOU MIND NOT DOING THAT!" Sayoko winced, "This thing repels our swords, what the heck did you think it was going to do to your blasts?"

"Sorry," Iczer Two said in chagrin, "That was...reflex..."

"Well, don't let it happen again," Sayoko sniffed as she started to calm down, "Good thing you were just testing it that time...if you'd let loose with a full-  
force blast, you might have fried us both."

"I said I was sorry," Iczer Two replied in a remarkably meek voice, only to straighten up again as she felt a vibrating sound in the air, "What's that?"

"You mean that sound like the approaching tread of doom?" Sayoko turned and stared out past the semi-transparent surface of their containment globe, "I've got a BAAAAAD feeling about this..."

Both partners stared out at the sight of a huge shape approaching, lumbering with each stride yet clearly defined as of humanoid proportions. Each step made the earth itself tremble under their feet, and though this was only Subspace and not Real Space the effect was the same as an armored mountain moved towards them, causing both Iczer and Human to blanch an appropriate color.

"You just had to ask to see their real strength, didn't you?" Sayoko murmured.

"You would think I would know better by now," Iczer Two agreed, and then the both of them braced themselves for the real test that was to follow...

A remarkable sight greeted Warrior First Class Cobalt as she turned to see the approach of the young Rhea Kano. It not only seemed as though the strawberry blond Iczer were dancing upon air, it was a fact that she was actually **skating**...a phenomenon that Cobalt only recognized from her own brief attempts (stress the word "attempt") at mastering the Earth custom with her life partner, Sepia (who naturally took to the art with such ease that it was positively daunting to Cobalt's ego).

"Well now," Cobalt mused, "You look as if you've been having a good time."

"Oh!" Rhea straightened out when she saw who it was addressing her, "Cobalt...I'm sorry...I almost didn't see you. I was..."

"Spending time getting to know your new partner?" Cobalt said in amusement, "Ah, young love...I remember it well...so...have you yet to achieve full Synchronization with her?"

"Er...not yet," Rhea replied, "I don't think that she is...really to go that far just yet. It was only...that she asked me to come back and...hang out with her, as her people describe it..."

"You mean like a date?" Cobalt asked, then the silver haired C'thuwulf laughed when she saw the younger woman's expression color, "All right then...sort-of a date. The point is that she asked you to come back, right?"

"Oh yes," Rhea's expression softened into a look of pure bliss, "She is everything I could have asked for in a partner. Oh Cobalt-sama...I could not have chosen better if I had tried to select her from all of the Earth's population..."

"Just be sure that you take things slow with her," Cobalt cautioned, "Earth women are not all temperamentally suited to handle too much revelation at one time. I can well remember the teething pains we had coaching Nagisa along...and then there's Sayoko, who took to the whole thing as if she had known about us her whole life..."

"Well...she practically has, or so I am given to understand," Rhea noted, "I will be careful not to rush things...she has a...remarkably adaptive mind, though...and with a little preparation I think she will come around to...understanding..."

"For your sake, I hope so," Cobalt smiled again, "Now hurry along, young one...your parents will want to speak with you about the progress you've made in breaking in a new partner."

"I would not call it...'breaking in,' per se..." Rhea smiled reluctantly, "But you are right, I am overdue in speaking with my parents about Muku-chan..."

"Muku-chan, is it?" a new voice asked, and all at once an ivory-haired figure appeared alongside Rhea, taking the younger girl in a head-lock and applying what the Earther's would call a "Noogie," much to the younger girl's discomfort, "I am SOOOOO jealous of you, Niece! And you not even a little sprout fully hatched from her cubicle!"

"Look who is talking," Cobalt rumbled under her breath, "And when did you get back from long-range patrol, Iczer Three?"

The silver-haired warrior in black-white-and-crimson armor let go of the smaller Rhea and said, "How many times do I have to ask you not to call me that, Cobalt? It's Troi now, not Iczer Three! That going by the numbers crap is so Lame-O! Troi's got more class and style...it suits me a lot better, don't you think? I mean, you don't see the squirt here going around calling herself Iczer Four, do you? And speaking of which...what's this talk I hear about you having a partner? Aren't you a little young to be dating, young lady?"

"I repeat myself," Cobalt rolled her eyes, "Look who's talking."

"Auntie Troi," Rhea brightened (now that she was no longer being "Noogied"), "When did you get back from patrol?"

"A little while ago," the silver-haired Iczer (er-Troi) replied, "I finished scouting the nearby systems, like I was asked by Oneechan, and now I'm back to make my report. So...where is Big Sis off to anyway? I checked in at the main office but they told me she was off on another mission."

"She is?" Cobalt asked in surprise, "With our current state of readiness? That hardly seems prudent."

"Yeah, and that's the other thing," the slender and tall Iczer straightened out, "What's with everyone going on Defcom Four all of a sudden? Who are we going to war with, and why?"

"You haven't heard?" Rhea asked in surprise.

"We have had incidents of Venomoid activity of late," Cobalt explained, "Numerous crossings over through the Subspace field with random attacks at various key points throughout Tokyo city."

"Venomoids?" Troi pronounced the word as though it were particularly distasteful, "I thought we destroyed the last of those creepy buggers! You mean some of them escaped?"

"We don't think it was quite that which triggered the latest incidents," Cobalt revealed, "These attacks are not random, they are coordinated, and they seem to fit a military style pattern of insurgence. They are also attacking more boldly and in greater strength than would be the case if they were just some random pocket of resistance that escaped the great purging. We fear that this may be the first indications of a much larger infestation problem, and we believe that the source may well originate in another dimension."

"You mean...like a temporal crossing?" Troi whistled, "Hooboy! Now I know why your partner gave me the recall signal. Funny that she didn't tell me about all of this, though when I came in for my debriefing."

"Oh?" Cobalt blinked, then touched her communicator and said, "Command Center, this is Cobalt. Patch me in to Lieutenant Commander Sepia's office..."

"I'm online, Cobalt-chan," came the svelte voice of her significant other, "Tell Troi that I'm sorry I was so abrupt with her just now, but we have a situation brewing that we are currently monitoring, and it is taking the better part of my concentration."

"You mean you were leaving the explaining part to me?" Cobalt arched a silvery eyebrow.

"I knew you would be able to handle things on that end," Sepia said with a lilting hint of amusement, "And Tell Troi and Rhea-now that she is back with us-to report into the situation room. We may need to debrief them both sooner than we had expeected. Sepia out."

Cobalt stared into space with a look of disquiet that was in no way made more pleasant by Troi's soft chuckling commentary, "You are ssssoooooo partner-  
whipped..."

"Says an Iczer who doesn't yet have a partner," Cobalt grumbled, turning to Rhea and saying, "I guess you're being included with the rest of us old-timers, young lady. I wonder why the Commander wasn't contacted, though...she's usually the first one to jump on a case like this..."

"Who knows with Two?" Troi shrugged, "She's always been a bit twitchy. Maybe Sayoko's got her pinned down and won't let her up for air, or something."

"Auntie!" Rhea colored at the insinuating language, unable to help remembering what it felt like when she and Muku had laid out on the ice together.

"Young people are so easy to shock these days," Troi rolled her eyes towards the ceiling.

"For the third time I restate myself," Cobalt mused, "Look who is talking..."

Muku arrived home feeling tired and somewhat flustered by the whole experience with Rhea. It was not so much that she was vexed at the mystery that seemed to surround the girl as it was more of a case of wondering what the heck was going on with her own reactions every time she and the mysterious girl were in the same space together.

Muku hated mysteries and problems, that was more the kind of thing that turned on someone with more of a brain, like Ono. She was more the action sort, the kind of person who hated to sit back and let other people do all the work. She liked using her hands more than her head, and while she was far from unintelligent, she did not consider herself to be an outstandingly good problem solver. That being a given, of course, fate would have to land a total mystery into her lap without any sort of instructions. She could improvise whenever she had to, but dealing with something that was totally outside the range of her experience was just too much of a headache to be worth her bother.

That being a given, she decided that a nice hot bath was just the thing that she needed to get her mind off of her troubles. She had taken a brief shower when leaving the skating arena, but nothing could replace a long hot soak in the furo for soothing away your troubles.

Of course along the way she did encounter one of the usual standard features of her existence...namely an arrow sticking out from the front porch door, and another that had gone through a ricepaper window to imbed itself in the middle pillar separating the dining room from the kitchen. She did not even bother to take these down to read them as she made her way up the stairs and to her room, reckoning them as challenge letters from the dynamic brother-sister team of Godai and Gel Kuno. Trust those two not to have sense enough to leave a message with her answering service, they always had to be old fashioned about these things, which made it awfully hard to keep in stock on doors and windows.

Fifteen minutes later found her relaxing in the soothing hot water of her upstairs furo, helping her to relax while contemplating such great life mysteries as why nearly all of her friends and rivals tended to be such very odd people. Sakura and Yumi were nice enough as friends went, but some of the others who comprised her rather **unique** social circle all tended to fall under the category of "really strange people," like Yui Hibiki of the enormous strength and clueless sense of directions. She supposed that you could file many of them away under the heading of "mostly harmless" sorts, but then you had a real problem case like Gel to tilt the apple cart, and that was not even going so far as to include her deranged cousin and aunt, who were in an entirely different category of "scary people you don't invite to your parties."

Of course some people were a nice sort of strange, like her Uncle Ranma, who had a peculiar...condition that hardly anyone even felt like mentioning these days. Her mentor in martial arts (not in the same category as her parents) was an even-handed sort who hardly seemed to mind the fact that Muku and his daughter were considered both friends and rivals...or was that friendly rivals? He played no favorites, extended no special favors to anyone, expected all of his students to do their best and generally did not mind if you had a life outside of classes. What a contrast with the vast majority of her teachers, who tended to load her with so much homework that Muku could only wonder what most of it was for, or how it could possibly be of benefit to her eventual graduation?

And then there was Rhea...a new enigma to be certain. How did she fall into that category of "strange?" Good, bad or just "trouble waiting to happen?" Probably the latter, Muku reasoned, not that there was anything about the girl herself that seemed so threatening as the strangeness that seemed to surround her. In fact...

"Oh...did I catch you at a bad time?"

"Huh?" Muku started, sitting upright in the tub, then slowly turning around to see the earnest face of Rhea leaning over her, which caused Muku to freeze up like a deer in the headlights.

"I'm sorry...I didn't mean to disturb you like this," Rhea apologized, "I was just wondering why you were not wearing the bracelet I gave you. We have a bit of an emergency, you see, and when I noticed that your safety field had not yet been engaged..."

"GAK!" without knowing quite why, Muku covered herself up and yelped, "DON'T YOU EVER KNOCK BEFORE YOU SHOW UP HERE?"

"Oh?" Rhea blinked, backing up somewhat, "Did I do something wrong? I apologize...but you see, it's necessary for you to wear the bracelet at all times..."

"Why?" Muku stared at the girl with narrowed eyes, not even bothering to ask herself why she was so shy around this stranger.

"Because the enemy is on the alert and could show up at any time," Rhea said when her eyes started to rove up and down Muku's body as if studying a fine statue and just noticing its worth upon a closer inspection, "Oh my..."

"Oh my what?" Muku frowned, "You've never seen a girl naked before?"

"Oh I have, many times in fact," Rhea answered, "But...never...quite like this..."

"Never like what?" Muku challenged, "You've never taken a bath with another girl?"

Rhea colored abruptly, "Oh no...I have never been so...intimate with anyone...not even with my Aunts. I was simply admiring your symmetry...did you know that your face is within 1.06% of a perfect balance? That's very rare in a human...most people tend to differ on one side than the other, just as one breast is sometimes larger than its counterpart, or one leg is slightly longer...do you understand what I am saying?"

"Uh...not really," Muku swallowed.

Rhea seemed to just then remember herself, turned and saw the neatly folded pile of fresh garments that Muku was intending to change into, and the bracelet that was set atop them. Rhea moved to pick up the bracelet, then did something to the inside part of it before passing it along to Muku, saying with much earnestness in her expression, "Never take it off for longer than you have to, and when you do take it off, be sure to keep it close at hand. It could save not only your life but the lives of those around you, and besides...you can contact me with this if you ever need my help. Just touch this black button and say my name and I will be at your side before you know it."

"Huh?" Muku frowned as she automatically reached out a hand to accept the bracelet, "But...won't it get wet or something...?"

"That won't be a problem," Rhea replied, then her eyes seemed to grow more focused as she stared at Muku's chest, which had been uncovered by the proffering hand. Muku noticed this and immediately covered herself again with a sour expression, as if daring Rhea to make something about it.

"I don't suppose this thing tells the time or anything like that?" Muku asked as she turned around and fitted the bracelet around her wrist, keeping her back firmly turned towards Rhea.

"If you want it to tell the time then you can press the black spot and ask for a reading," Rhea answered, "Go ahead and try it."

Muku noticed a small black stone set on the bracelet and put a finger on the thing, but she found that she could not depress it. She decided to test it anyway and said, "Time?"

All at once a set of glowing lights appeared in the air above the bracelet, startling Muku, who had not expected any such thing to happen.

"I have to go now," Rhea sighed as she stood erect once again, "I just wanted to make certain that you were safe. It's not a good idea to be alone in a house this big...the Venomoids could attack you disguised as something seemingly innocent, and it is always best to be on your guard against them."

"What the heck are these Venomoids?" Muku asked as she turned around, careful to keep her body submerged down to her neckline, "And why are they out to attack me?"

"They are beings from a negative void who are the enemies of all life," Rhea answered, "They seek to infiltrate this world and subvert it, just as they have done on other worlds that bore their infestation. They know that we C'thuwulf stand resolved to prevent this from happening, but that we have...certain vulnerabilities that they can exploit to their advantage, among which is you, who are soul-bonded to me as my partner."

"Hey, don't I get any say in this?" Muku asked.

"I am afraid not," Rhea replied with a sad shake of her head, "Synchronization has begun, and it is a process that is near to irreversible once I selected you as my partner. It can only happen when I find a human partner who is perfectly suited towards me and contains all of the elements that I need to achieve a full balance. At full synchronization I will achieve my ultimate level of power, but at present I am only partially there, and so I must protect you at all cost. I am sorry about involving you in this matter, but all who live upon the Earth will be infected if the Venomoids have their way."

"And you need me to stop this?" Muku sounded incredulous, "How? What can I do? I'm just a normal girl, for Kami's sakes!"

"You are not 'normal' or ordinary to me," Rhea replied, "And you have gifts the like of which you cannot presently imagine. That is why the Venomoids wish to destroy you...you represent a threat to their empire. By destroying you they will cripple me and remove any chance of a threat that I might pose to them, just as they are attempting to remove my Aunt and her partner from the equation."

"What's that?" Muku blinked.

"My Aunt has been attacked," Rhea replied, "She and her partner are presently fighting to defend themselves against an unknown assailant of Venomoid origins. My other Aunt has gone to assist them, leaving me to look after you since the next logical move for the enemy would be to come after the wink link of an incomplete Iczer. I would have come to see you anyway because your safety is paramount to my well being. I also...wanted to see you again...it has been only an hour since we parted, and yet I find you in my thoughts at every waking moment."

"Ah...hah?" Muku reacted.

"Oh...I am sorry, did I embarrass you again?" Rhea flushed with chagrin, "I am sorry...I don't quite fully understand the ways of your people. I was raised...differently in New Gamora...I will leave you alone now...but remember what I have said and be careful."

With that the strange girl faded out once again, leaving Muku to stare at the space where she had been standing. Muku then glanced down at the bracelet around her wrist, then shook her head in absolute confusion and sighed, "I need a better social life..."

But try as she might she could not keep from blushing, remembering just how Rhea had looked on her naked body. There was no mistaking it now, that girl was definitely going to be trouble, but just what to do about it Muku could not truly say, nor did she even pretend to have a clue about her own feelings on the matter. The obviously logical thing to do would have been to tell this Rhea to get lost and insist she never again drop in on Muku, either with or without any announcement.

Yeah, right, like it would be that simple! She sighed all the more as she contemplated her bracelet and silently wondered why she had accepted the other girl's simple declaration at face value. The idea that the thing might in any way protect her seemed ludicrous...and yet the thought of taking it off brought back the memory of the Venomoids and the fear that they generated. The smart thing would be to leave well enough alone and hope for a later explanation that would make more sense. She could worry about elvish girls and things that go bump in the night on some other occasion...

If only her mind did not keep troubling her with one question...such as what did this Rhea girl look like when she was naked? And-realizing that she had actually thought such a thing-Muku sank into the furo and tried to pretend that the whole thing had never happened, knowing as she did so that she was being a hypocrite, but for the moment not caring...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Safety Restrictions in a Venomoid Crisis: shadowmane

Troi goes to assist Iczer Two and Sayoko while other forces begin to marshal onto the scene, and will Muku find herself being dragged into the ensuing battle? Stay tuned for next time with: "No Need for Giant Robots," or "It takes Three to Tango!" Be there!

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	5. Chapter 5

Earthchild05

The Earthchild

By Jim Robert Bader

(A Iczer/Ranma 1/2 Crossover)

(Inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi &amp; Others,  
with ideas and suggestions supplied by Johannes Huber)

Chapter Five.

"You've all heard the news, you've read the reports, so...what is the decision of this council?"

The darkened faces around the dimly illuminated chamber all shifted uneasily, some shuffling the papers set before them, eyes moving to the three-dimensional holographic display of a Venomoid in full attack mode, and then one of these gray-suited men asked, "Is it a full scale invasion, or just the first opening volley to a major war that's coming?"

"That, Sir, is the question that we are in the process of determining," replied a dark haired woman whose close-cropped style framed lovely Asian features of indeterminate age, conveying a very business like-if casual-manner, "We hope to learn more of what the enemy's goals are and how best to combat them, but we can all rest assured that they do not have our best interests at heart. The Venomoids are a ruthless, parasitic race who seek to subvert life as we know it, and they are the sworn enemy of the C'thuwulf people. You may take it on faith from me that we will do everything within our power to stop and eradicate their presence from this planet."

"But so far they've only managed relatively minor raids," another gray suited man noted in passing, "Largely hit and run affairs, easily dealt with. As yet we have no proof that they are massing in great numbers, and we have only your word that their ultimate goal is hostile."

"Not just our word," the short haired girl replied, "The Venomoids are the reason why the C'thuwulf originally fled their dying homeworld. They were driven away to begin their great exodus that culminated in their finding our planet. In another reality the Venomoids nearly succeeded in taking over our world and subverting it to their ends. Believe me, they are well beyond the scope of Terran technology and pose a clear and present danger to every living thing on this planet."

"The chair recognizes that you and your companion have good reason to be concerned, Miss Kano, but are you certain that your adopted people have what it takes to resist a potential invasion? After all, these Venomoids did succeed in taking over their world..."

Nagisa Kano sensed her companion stirring in her chair long before the statuesque blonde came to full alert and said, "That is because we did not know what we were dealing with at the time, or how best to combat them. The Venomoid struck swiftly and without mercy, attacking us through our own machines and turning them against us. Believe me when I say that we have had many years to perfect our means of overcoming their evil, and my sisters stand united with me to defend this, our adopted world. The kindness you have shown us over the years will be returned in full measure as we stand ready to place our resources at your disposal for the defense of the Earth and all who live here."

"You pledge yourself to this worthy end?" another gray suited man challenge.

"I do, Sir, with all my heart, soul and body."

"But...please forgive me if I put this rather indelicately...you are not entirely human, and your people..."

"We are human enough in all the ways that truly matter," the blonde woman replied, her sharply angular features, overly large slanted eyes and pointed ears denoting the very other-ness of her appearance, even as her blue-black, red and gold armor further set her apart from the men and women who sat around at this darkened table, "And as Protector of the C'thuwulf, I am prepared to lay down my very life, if necessary, in order to see that what happened on our world NEVER repeats itself on Earth. You may trust me when I say that the enemy will be stopped, and decisively, as soon as we have taken full measure of their strength and know the scope of their real intentions."

"A pretty speech," mused a plum-suited woman near the other end of the table, "But this council will be expecting results in good order. So far the incursions-though they happen worldwide-seem to be concentrated around the C'thuwulf base in the Tokyo area. It may be possible that your people are the likely targets of these most recent attacks..."

"That is our conclusion as well," the blonde elf-woman responded, "The enemy obviously knows that we are the only ones equipped to deal with them in any decisive manner, so it would be logical for them to seek to destroy us as a first step to a larger invasion. We can spot their energy spikes whenever they make a move through subspace to attack us, and so we have a momentary advantage that we hope to exploit to good effect..."

"Then we will trust you to handle this, for now," another figure at the table emphasized, "But be warned that-if you fail or this council determines that the infestation has gotten out of hand-then steps will be taken by other agencies to deal more decisively with the problem. Is this understood?"

"Implicitly," the blonde replied, only to notice that her companion was signaling for her attention.

"We better wrap this up," Nagisa murmured at a level that only she and her partner could overhear, "I've just got word from headquarters that we have another incident, and it involves Iczer Two and Sayoko."

"I am on it," replied Iczer One, turning and addressing herself to the table, "Gentlemen, ladies, I have just been informed that we are needed back at headquarters. So...if you have no further need for us...?"

"The chair recognizes that you and your partner have other duties to attend, Lady Protector," the man at the far end of the table replied, "You may go for now, but we will call upon you again if there is a need."

"Understood," Iczer One replied, then took her companion's hand as the both of them vanished from the chamber.

There was silence for several long seconds, and then one of the shadowy figures remarked, "Do you think we ought to invest so much trust in her? After all, she is an alien..."

"But her partner is human."

"So what? She has gone completely native. She even talks as though she were born a C'thuwulf and not merely adopted."

"I don't think we have to worry about her. In fact, as our liaison with these C'thuwulf she has been very helpful over the years, very helpful indeed."

"I still don't like this, what happens if their base is overrun? They're the only ones who truly have any idea what we may be up against. They should be sharing more of their knowledge with us...we should have insisted..."

"It was the decision of this council to grant asylum to the C'thuwulf in exchange for some of their technology and secrets, and so far they had lived up to both the word and the spirit of their vow."

"But these Venomoid attacks may change everything, it could spread out into the larger field, we may not be able to contain this one through our media spin doctors and misinformation agencies..."

"We will have to prepare contingency plans just in case that does happen. What are your views on this, 'M'?"

"My agency is prepared to mobilize in case we are needed. We, too, have access to advanced alien technology that could prove useful should this shadow war move out into the public."

"That's comforting to know. And what about Shield?"

"We're always ready to deal with any trouble that comes our way, Sir...but this is Japan we are talking about here, and without local authority to give us access to the potentially infected areas..."

"You will have that authority, Colonel Rogers, just as soon as this council has had time to consult with our representative and figurehead leaders. Expect to be given the orders to mobilize at any time we deem necessary."

"Understood, Sir," the blonde haired Shield officer grimly replied, thinking privately to herself (My husband is going to freak when he hears about this one...)

"Okay, I'm in subspace and am approaching the infected area," Troi remarked, "But no sign as yet of either Sayoko or my sister."

"Stand by," came the response on the subspace channel frequency that she was using, "We're using you to get a sharper reading, Troi...so...head off to your right by about five clicks, then report what you see."

"Sure enough, Magenta," Troi replied as she flew off the requisite distance, then hovered to get a better reading, "Over the target area...still no sign of-  
-wait! I'm...picking up on a resonance..."

"Confirmed," the lieutenant at the monitor station back on base responded, "We make out a strong reading...in fact, you're right on top of them. Do a visual sweep and see if you can nail them down this time."

"Roger that," Troi replied, casting her gaze down at the ground, only to have her gaze shift focus to a particular area, and with a little adjustment of her vision she saw the rounded globe that stood out like a neon beacon, "Well...what do you know? Looks like someone got themselves snatched up somehow. Stand by, I'm going in for a closer look."

"Be careful," the operator cautioned, even as Troi dropped down to ground level right beside the glowing pink energy globe that contained Sayoko and her crimson haired partner.

"Well, well, well," Troi clucked, "What have we here? Looks like somebody got themselves booby trapped, and guess who the Booby is this time around, eh?"

"I figured it would be you," came Iczer Two's muffled response, "The Gods must be punishing me for my long list of past transgressions."

"Bad karma beat by clean living, huh?" Troi beamed, "Now who's the rank amateur in the family, huh? You don't look so hot and on top of it this time, Two...in fact, I'd say you and Sayoko look awfully chummy in there."

"If you think this is recreational, why don't come inside and join us?" Iczer Two retorted.

"No thanks," Troi grinned, "I just wanna relish the memory of this for a while to come. After all, you're always riding me for going off half-cocked, how's it feel to be the one who gets herself caught up in the butterfly net, huh?"

"It figures that you would seek to gloat at a time like this when you should be on your guard against..."

"ALL RIGHT!" Sayoko shouted to get some attention, "Enough with this Sibling Rivalry stuff already! You've both made your points, so Troi...could you PLEASE put a sock on it and get us the heck out of this trap before we're toasted?"

"Well, since it's you asking this and not your sour-puss partner, lovely lady," Troi grinned, "I'd be only too happy to held YOU a hand..."

"Don't bother trying to blast the sphere," Two said, "We have already determined that it is quite impervious to that sort of an attack."

"Give me a little credit for brains, Two," Troi snorted, "I already figured that much out for myself. In fact...scanning this thing tells me a lot about the energy resonance pattern it generates. I think it's mostly keyed to contain energy bursts...but a quick burst of kinetic flow ought to disrupt the pattern."

"So do it already," Sayoko urged, "It's getting a bit stuffy in here...no reflection on the company, of course."

"Of course," Iczer Two nodded, "Anytime you're ready, Half Pint."

"Don't call me that," Troi sneered, "I haven't been that little in ages! Now...just hang tight and watch me do my stuff..."

With that she reared back and formed a globe of energy about one fist, preparing to unleash a massive punch, only to sense a rumbling in the ground beneath her feet that momentarily distracted her, causing Troi to ask, "What the heck was that?"

"That would be the other problem which we are facing," Iczer Two replied, turning her expression to nod at a nearby rocky formation.

Troi turned in time to see the rocky formation dissolve, to be replaced by a huge armored figure, which same rose up from its place of concealment to its full towering height, looming over them all like a living skyscraper.

"HUH?" Troi gasped, "Isn't that-?"

"WATCH OUT!" Sayoko cried as a massive hand came down and swatted Troi where she was standing.

"Ouch," Iczer Two winced in sympathy, "Now that had to have hurt..."

True enough, no sooner did the giant remove its hand then it revealed a hand-  
shaped impression in the ground, and an Iczer-shaped impression in the center. Troi lay quite still for several seconds, then in a small voice she murmured, "Ouchie...!"

"Are you all right?" Sayoko called out.

"Oh fine," Troi said as she pushed herself up out of her hole, "Now I know what a bug feels like..."

"Then you'd better start moving if you don't want to be swatted like that again," Iczer Two cautioned.

"Tell me something I don't already know," Iczer two groaned as she felt along the side of her head, only to glance up over her shoulder at the looming giant with a dismayed reaction, "Hooboy...is that what I think it is?"

"If you mean is it an Iczer Robo," Sayoko replied, "I'd say that was a pretty fair impression."

"You like it?" another voice asked, causing heads to turn to see the outstretched palm of the giant robot, upon which was standing a slender girl in black and crimson armor, a girl with features nearly identical to those of Iczer One and Troi, only her hair was a thick mane of cherry pink coloration that hung down well below her waist, "I call it Omega, just as you can call me Nova."

"Nova?" Iczer-Two reacted.

"She's an Iczer?" Sayoko said with a start.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Troi said as she stood up, "Who the hell are you?"

"I'm your sparring partner," the pink haired Nova replied with a very unpleasant leer upon her lips, "Sorry for the rude introduction, but you made me wait, and I hate to be kept waiting."

"Waiting for what?" Troi asked as she adopted a combat stance, her long mane of silver hair stirred slightly by a phantom breeze that blew up from out of nowhere, "For me to rearrange your features?"

"Not at all," Nova replied, leaping to the attack without warning and delivering a smashing kick that sent Troi flying, even as the new arrival raised a hand and gestured, causing a massive energy burst to leap from her hand towards Troi, who barely dodged it.

"I've been waiting here to kill you, of course," the enemy construct replied with an insanely eager expression on her face, "But I expect you to put up a good show, enough to make this interesting."

"That's a laugh!" Troi sneered as she came flying at the other woman like a living bullet, only to have Nova side-step her at the last second with a downward chop to the back of the silver haired Iczer's neck.

Iczer Two covered her eyes and winced as she watched her fellow Iczer hit the ground and dig up a long trough of dirt, "How many times have I warned her about rushing a foe before she knows their capabilities?"

"But still...why does she look so much like you?" Sayoko asked in amazement.

"I should think the answer to that one would be obvious enough," Nova replied, fixing Iczer Two with detached amusement, "Wouldn't you agree on that...Mother?"

"Mother?" Iczer Two blanched, "But...!"

"Is there something you've been meaning to tell me...darling?" Sayoko growled with particular meaning.

"Phaw!" Troi literally spat dirt out of her mouth as she pushed herself out of the trench and growled, "I'd say-Tieu!-it was more than a passing resemblance...but that still means I'm gonna clear your clocks for that one...whoever the heck you are!"

"You're more than welcome to try," Nova beamed broadly, "Just try not to be so pathetic in your next attack, will you?"

"Count on it, you...imposter!" Troi said as she got to her feet once again and resumed a ready stance.

"Oh yeah," Sayoko growled, "It looks like this is turning into one peach of a day..."

"My thoughts exactly," Iczer Two murmured with a highly dismayed expression...

"All right, I'm here...so...you guys gonna show yourselves or what?"

Muku surveyed the open field with wary eyes for several long seconds before her challenge was answered by the sly form of Gel Kuno, who stepped out from the concealment of a nearby tree looking as sly and predatory as was her usual manner. Immediately following this, Godai-her older brother-also put in his customary appearance, dressed in a Samurai-styled Hakama with his trademark boken resting lightly on his shoulder.

"Ah...Sensenen-chan," he said with his usual flourish, "As timely as ever, I see...and punctuality is but one of your many virtues. Have you come at last to accept your prize, my blushing White Starling?"

"Oh puh-lease," Muku rolled her eyes, "Why can't the two of you get it through your heads that I want nothing to do with either one of you? Do we have to keep going through this same routine every week? Bad enough you're so hot to date me, Godai-sempai, but you, Gel...what sick and twisted things have gotten into your head lately?"

"Only this," said the purple haired girl as she unfurled her ribbon, "Revenge for the many humiliations that you have visited upon me since taking away my rightful title. I will extract my pound of flesh from you this day, after which you can have my idiot brother, for all I care about the matter. I just want my...satisfaction to be complete."

"Yeah, right," Muku snorted, "You lost our match fair and square...why can't you just accept that and train harder for next year? You think I even want to have anything to do with a poetry-spouting idiot and a certified loon who thinks she's living back in the wilds of China? Think again!"

"I do wish that she would at least attempt to do that much," another voice spoke at her side, causing Muku to turn her expression in order to take in the other lavender-haired girl who was standing meekly beside her, "My sister can be such a trial sometimes...but do try and be gentle with her, and our misguided brother."

"Perm?" Muku blinked as she took in the twin sister of her arch rival, "What are you doing here?"

"Playing referee, I fear," Perm sighed, "I figure if my siblings have to behave like barbarians that at least one member of the Kuno clan should try and represent a level of sanity and decorum. I am sorry about this, Muku-chan...I have tried to talk them out of this many times, but you know how obsessed they can be..."

"Stop selling out your own flesh and blood, you...traitor!" Gel demanded of her twin, "You know the law as well as I do! When an outsider female defeats a warrior in battle..."

"Yes, I know," Perm sighed, "Then she either has to hunt down and kill that outsider or marry her...that's the problem with you, Sister of mine...you are sooo old fashioned."

"'Tis not the fashion alone that has merit but the reason why the law was adopted in the first place, Sweet Sister of mine," Godai retorted, "An outsider as strong and worthy of praise as Senzenen is worthy also of marrying into the noble line of Kuno, thus strengthening the Amazon blood that flows through our veins. How else can each generation improve itself to yield the strongest warriors of our noble bloodline? Indeed, fair Muku Dori is the Starling of White who belongs upon our mantle..."

"Frankly it is just her head that would interests me," Gel remarked, "I would dearly love to see it mounted over the fireplace, a fitting tribute to my inevitable triumph."

"Yeah, whatever," Muku rolled her eyes, "Can we get this over with already? I'm running a bit late and I promised my folks that I'd be back in time for dinner."

"Very funny," Gel replied, already twirling her ribbon, "How about I serve your head on a platter instead of a placard?"

"Now Sister dearest," Godai chided, "There is no need for you to talk so rough with her. Muku is our friend as well as a friendly rival, and the mere fact that she plays hard to get is no cause for such soaring resentments."

"But unlike you, Brother dear, I am not trying to get into her pants or force her to marry me," Gel replied, "I am seeking to avenge myself and the pride of our family."

"You ask me, there's too much pride in this family and not enough of sense," Perm sighed, turning once again to Muku and saying at the level of a stage whisper, "As I said before, be gentle, and watch out for the ribbon, it's laced with a new batch of muscle relaxant."

"Right," Muku murmured back, "I'll try and be mindful about that."

"What's this?" Gel asked, "Telling secrets out of class, Sister dear? Again you disappoint me..."

"Not half as disappointed as Mom will be if you don't fight fairly and stop using so many tricks to try and win your battles, Sister," Perm replied, "Even she won't condone using cowardly tricks that were taught to you by our Aunt Kodachi."

"You do have a point, Sister dear," Godai remarked, "I, for one, do not need to resort to any cheap gimmicks to win my battles. I fight with my skill, my heart and my own good two hands..."

"So why do you keep losing?" Muku sighed, "Can we get on with it already? Your spiels last way longer than our fights, and I'm getting bored already!"

"You need convincing?" Gel remarked, "Then let this do my talking for me!"

With that she whipped out her ribbon at Muku, who stood alert and ready to avoid its deadly slice, only to see said ribbon fall apart as a number of mini-  
throwing spatulas cut it into evenly divided sections.

"What?" Gel reacted, seeing her favorite weapon reduced to a mere fraction of its true length.

Sakura dropped down from the branches, mega-spatula in hand and at the ready, "Surprised? Think you could slip one past me by issuing a challenge letter on the sly? I'm onto your tricks, Kuno, and that goes double for your halfwit brother."

"We're here to see to it that you fight fair this time without your tricks and deceptions," said Yui Hibiki as she, too, stepped out from concealment, dressed now in the robes of a Shrine maiden, even as Sakura had switched out of her school clothing and was now dressed in the customary outfit of an okonomiyaki chef.

"How did you guys find out about the match?" Muku wondered, surprised at having unexpected reinforcements.

"Hey, you don't really think you can keep secrets from a Ninja, did you?" Sakura smiled, "And besides...a little birdie told us you might need help."

"A little birdie?" Gel frowned then growled sourly, "Sister-!"

"What?" Perm asked, "You thought I'd stand aside and watch the two of you team up against my friend? I may not want to fight with either of you, Sister and Brother dearest, but that doesn't mean I can't get someone else to do my fighting for me."

"But we told you specifically not to tell anyone what we were planning," Godai declared with a cross expression.

"You told me not to inform Yui and Sakura," Perm replied, "So I told Yumi instead and she told them."

"Hi!" said Yumi from where she stepped out of hiding, "Don't mind me, I'm just here as a strictly neutral observer...well...semi-neutral...I'm actually here to watch Muku kick your snobby buts from here to China, but I don't plan to do any fighting."

"Neither do we," Sakura remarked, "Just as long as it's a fair fight, Muku can hold her own. I'm here to see to it that this fight is fair and completely above-board."

"That's my reasoning also," Yui reluctantly agreed, "But if I see any hint of foul play from either one of you, then all bets are off!" and she flashed her umbrella to emphasize her meaning.

"Did I hear someone mention a bet?" remarked Ken Ono as he also stepped out from concealment, "That's the magic word I was waiting to hear..."

"What?" Muku blinked, turning to glance at Yumi, "You contacted all of them?"

"Well, there wasn't enough time to get anybody else," her friend shrugged, "But I suppose we'll have to do with the usual suspects...unless you're thinking of calling in your phantom girlfriend."

"Um..." Muku thought about the bracelet that she was wearing then colored abruptly, "No thanks...I want to do this by myself, guys. I'm happy for the support and all that, but I'd much rather fight my own battles."

"Oh, we're not worried," Sakura replied with a smile, "We know you can take both Kunos with one hand tied behind your back while wearing a blindfold. We just wanted to see you do it."

"And to ward against any possible cheating," Yui further noted.

"Cheating?" Gel sniffed in an aristocratic manner, "As if I need to cheat to defeat the likes of you!"

With that the purple haired girl leaped high into the air and hurled a ball with great force, which Muku naturally dodged, even as it hit the ground and burst out into a puff of smoke that billowed out in all directions.

"No cheating, huh?" Sakura coughed as she and Yui backed away from the cloud.

"What the heck do you call that?" Yui coughed as she covered her eyes and tried to keep away from the smoke cloud.

"My dear Yumi-san," Gel smiled as she came down holding up a hoop, which same she spun around one wrist, then produced a second about the other, "I knew full well that Muku would dodge that simple attack...the gas is for you to keep you meddlers from interfering in my vengeance."

"A bit excessive, don't you think?" asked Ken, who had the foresight to cover his face with a gas mask

"Why you-!" Muku cried as she tried rushing the other girl, only to have both hoops get tossed her way with wires still leading back to a set of rings held in Gel's two hands, which same she then used to contract the rings by pulling the wires tightly.

"Now then," Gel said as she stood a good distance away tugging on the wires that held Muku immobile, "Those rings should prove sufficient to hold you...long enough for me to do...this!"

With that the purple haired gymnast tugged on the wires, yanking Muku off her feet and drawing her like a fish on a line as Gel moved rapidly to spin her about, gradually building up momentum until Muku felt like a rag doll on the spin cycle.

"Oh my!" Yumi exclaimed as she successfully completed the task of moving upwind from the paralyzing cloud that was holding Sakura and Yui immobile.

"I tend to agree with friend Ken," Godai remarked, "This is a bit excessive, Sister dear. The idea is to defeat fair Muku-chan, not turn her into guacamole."

Perm just covered her eyes and groaned, "And people wonder why I hate admitting that they're my siblings..."

Gel tired of the game that she was playing and chose the appropriate moment to release the wires binding the hoops, sending Muku soaring across the intervening space separating her from a rude impact with a tree trunk. Before impact could happen, however, a streak of blue-green and gold shot out from seeming nowhere and caused Muku to abruptly vanish.

"What the...?" Ken exclaimed as he and everyone else reacted to the sudden disappearance of Muku Dori, only to see her appear once more in the arms of a fiery-haired armored vision.

"Are you all right?" Rhea asked, having wasted no time in reacting to the sense of distress that had drawn her to the side of her chosen partner, "Are you hurt in any way?"

"Gah...wha...?" Muku responded, her mind spinning so much like a top that she could barely even register the question.

"Take it easy," Rhea said as she set Muku down, then stared into her partner's eyes while holding her face in both hands to determine if there had been neurological damage. To her immense relief she found that Muku's disoriented state was only temporary, the product of inertia and vectoring G-forces."

"Who in the name of our blessed ancestors is that?" Godai remarked, leaning forward on his boken.

"That's what I was going to say," mused Ken in tones that caused the immobilized Sakura to eye him crossly.

Muku's vision began to clear at last, and then her eyes looked up to see the concern expressed in Rhea's expression. The elvish girl was clearly and deeply worried about Muku's welfare, and as that thought began to register in her mind, the next thought that came was, "What happened to the fight? What about Gel...?"

"Yes, what about Gel?" the person in question demanded, "Who are you and why do you interfere in a personal quarrel that I was in the process of winning?"

Muku looked up with amazement, seeing the expression of her new companion go from concern to irritation, and then darken with a look of genuine anger. All at once Rhea straightened out and confronted her accuser, her gentle face taking on an aspect that was almost positively...scary!

"You are Gel Kuno?" Rhea asked in tones that made it plain that it was not a question.

"I am she," the lavender hair aristocrat replied, "And you are?"

The armored blonde fell into a combat stance and said, "I am Rhea Kano, and Senzenen Muku Dori is my companion. If you wish to harm her you must go through me, for I will not allow this."

"Say what?" Yumi blinked.

"Her...companion?" Ken repeated blandly.

"How curious," Godai mused, "I believe that she wishes to give you battle, sweet sister."

"Indeed?" Gel sniffed, "How amusing."

"I don't think that is the word that I would use," Perm noted warily, "This one looks as if she could be a problem for you, Sister."

"A...problem...huh?" Sakura grated, frustrated that her paralysis was keeping her and Yui off-balance.

"Explain yourself," Gel demanded imperiously, "Why are you standing up for Senzenen? What is she to you that you would defend her?"

"That is none of your concern," Rhea replied, "But know this...no one may touch or harm Muku Dori while I still live. If you persist in annoying her, then you will be punished. She belongs to me and no one else, and if anyone seeks to challenge me on this, then they will be dealt with."

Muku stared up at the girl, having heard this declaration, and-even more disturbing-feeling the sincerity of these words as though she implicitly knew their meaning in her very bones, which prompted her to say, "Nani...?" knowing that her already complicated life was about to take a turn for the truly bizarre, and wondering just how she had so completely lost control over the whole process, and whether or not she would be able to survive it...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/C'thuwulf Comparative Anatomy Lessons: shadowmane

Iczer Two and Troi do battle with the mysterious Nova while Rhea makes her mark among Nerima's martial arts masters, but how long with she and Muku be able to settle personal accounts before larger events drag them into the coming battle against the tides of darkness? Stay tune for: "Amoral Combat," or "Is This Any Way to Recruit a Partner?" Be there!

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If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	6. Chapter 6

Earthchild06

The Earthchild

(An Iczer/Ranma 1/2 Crossover set twenty years in the future)

by Jim Robert Bader

Chapter Six.

Troi slammed into the ground so hard that she bounced back out of her own crater, then went rolling for another several meters to distance before coming to an abrupt halt at the base of a stone-like outcropping.

"Oh very good," Iczer Two relayed in a sarcastic tone of voice, "An excellent strategy, blocking her punches with your face."

"Shut up, Two!" Troi snarled as she ducked low just in time to avoid another such interception, only to have the fist of her opponent impact with the stone outcropping, shattering the base and causing the entire structure to come tumbling down on the two opponents.

"OH CRAP!" Troi cried as she narrowly avoided being pinned under the tons of story outcrop.

Still trapped as she was in the globe of force, Iczer Two could only sigh, "She never learns, and she never listens. Even when she was but a mere cubicle hatchling she always had to do things the hard way. I've tried teaching her time and again that the best way to fight is to go on the offensive..."

"At least she is trying," Sayoko noted, then hesitated before adding, "Well...sort of."

Troi managed to get her energy blade back up in time to block a downward stroke by her fiery nemesis, but the cherry haired warrior was pressing her hard and it was all that she could do to maintain her defenses in the face of the onslaught.

"Isn't there anything we can do to help?" Sayoko asked, trying not to sound as worried as she was for the fate of her partner's younger sister.

"Not directly as such," Iczer Two remarked, "However...with Three here, it may be possible to use her as a relay point to make contact with our home base. I'm going to attempt it."

So saying the redheaded Iczer closed her eyes and concentrated, even as Sayoko silently leant her added strength through the rapport that they shared as partners and-after a minute of interfacing the dial-up tone, the various relay points and pass codes-they heard a familiar voice call out to them, "Hello? Can either of you hear me, Sister? What is your current status?"

Iczer Two relaxed by a fraction as gratitude flooded her being, but like a true warrior she mastered her impulses and with discipline formed her thoughts into words, "We are here, Sister! Sayoko and I are trapped in an enemy force globe while Three...that is...Troi...is attempting to engage the enemy."

"Attempting?" their elder sister replied in evident confusion.

Iczer Two winced as she felt Troi impact against another stony outcrop, barely managing to block a sword-slice that might have otherwise taken her head, only to get a kick to the stomach hard enough to drive her all the way through the outcropping, which promptly tumbled about her.

"I said attempting," Iczer Two replied coolly, "I did not mean to imply that she was actually succeeding."

"Who is this enemy?" Iczer One demanded, "Who is attacking you, and why does she look so much like...?"

"She claims to be my daughter, if you can believe that," Iczer Two replied, "The enemy appears to possess Iczer technology and may have formed her using my baseline matrix. I think you can see what this may imply about them."

"I...do, Sister," Iczer One said with reluctance, "Stand by, I'm coming with Nagisa to help..."

"NEGATIVE!" Iczer Two said sharply, "Do not come to aid us-repeat-DO NOT COME BY YOURSELVES TO OUR RESCUE! This has all the classic earmarks of a trap, and with two of us already here, all our enemies would need is for us to concentrate our resources together."

"But...you need our help...!"

"Negative that," Iczer Two said firmly, "There is more to the enemy than we realized...they set a trap to capture Sayoko and myself, then used us as bait to lure Iczer Three into an ambush. What are the odds that they are just waiting for you to get here before they unleash even more unpleasantness? We cannot risk exposing all of our resources in one area, which would leave our people's defenses that much more greatly diminished."

"But you could die!" the earnest voice of her elder sister declared with obvious anguish.

"That is a risk all warriors must face at one time or another," Iczer Two replied, "I've been once dead before, you know...I don't relish reliving the experience, nor would I wish such a fate on you, my Sister."

"Two," her sister said solemnly, "Losing you is unacceptable to me, losing both you and Troi is unthinkable. I would risk any danger to prevent that."

"Wasn't it you who once said that you never again wanted to see the blood of a sister on your hands?" Iczer Two half-smiled, "Believe me, you would be risking far more coming to our aid right now. Have faith in us, One...we won't die this day, nor do I plan on taking Sayoko-chan with me to the grave this time around."

"You...have a plan then?" Iczer One hesitantly inquired.

"Not...a plan as such," Iczer Two's reply was even more reluctant, "But I don't plan on staying captive for too much longer. Wait until we know more about the enemy's true strength and then we may have some idea of what they are after."

"Two-Get of my head already!" Troi snapped as she fought to disentangle her energy blade from that of her opponent, "Bad enough your kid's giving me such a hard time, but I don't need any of your static distracting me right now, you got it?"

"Sister," One spoke directly to Troi, "Is there any way that I can be of assistance to you? Should I dispatch the Iczelion corps to assist you?"

"Assist me...against this goofball?" Troi backed away from her opponent, keeping her beam saber at the ready, "Like that'll be the day! Don't worry, Oneechan, I know just how to take care of this nuisance!"

"Tough words coming from you, Auntie," Nova declared with a leer, "But so far all you've managed to do is let me kick you around. I haven't even broken a sweat yet, old timer..."

"Old Timer?" Troi flared, "You're calling ME that? Now you're really pissing me off! In fact, I'm gonna spank you with your own beam saber you-HEY! What in the world is that?" she pointed off in a direction somewhere past the other warrior's shoulder.

"Eh?" Nova automatically turned her head to follow the gesture, only to give a yelp as she hastily blocked a strike that came slicing at her mid-section.

"MADE YOU LOOK!" Troi crowed as she darted past the flustered Nova, reaching the energy globe and forming a charge around her fist before striking it with a concentrated burst of power.

Iczer-Two and Sayoko flinched as the globe of energy fractured all around them, breaking apart like so much glass and vanishing as its power was fully dissipated. When the fireworks died down and everyone could look again, Iczer Two turned to her sister and said, "I don't believe you just did that!"

"Hey, I'm as surprised as you, Two," Troi shrugged, "I never thought she'd fall for it either."

"Why you..." Nova shook in rage, "You tricked me! No fair!"

"Indeed," Iczer Two stepped clear of where the energy globe had been and summoned up her own beam saber, "But then again, life is not always fair either. Now, young lady...let us test the matter of whether or not you truly are-as you claim-my biological daughter."

Nova backed away, but then she smiled and said, "Oh no, Mom...you're not grounding me that easy! I still have a few Aces up my sleeve, like my other self here."

With hardly a nod of her head the giant Iczer Omega loomed up and began to move forward with a colossal hand to menace the two Iczers and the armored Sayoko.

"Oboy," Troi winced, "We definitely need backup for this...maybe it's time to summon up our own Iczer Robos?"

"Definitely a good idea," Iczer Two agreed, only to flinch as she felt a power build up at her side, and in amazement she turned to look at Sayoko, who was manifesting a powerful battle aura.

"I don't believe this!" her human partner declared, "I work for over a month to get some free time set aside where just the two of us can enjoy a single day and a night together without any business interruptions...and then you PEOPLE have to come along and wreck my whole day! Who knows when the next time will come around when I can get Ni-chan to let her hair down and dress like a regular woman...and it's all because of YOU AND YOUR STUPID ROBOT!"

With that Sayoko formed a ball of energy between her armored fists, harnessing the power of her anger and focusing it into a concentrated build-up, then unleashing a blast that lanced out and struck the cyclopean Iczer Omega full in the chest and sent the mega-tonned monstrosity tumbling backwards as if struck down by a hummongus hammer.

Iczer Two and Troi stared with wide-eyes, their long hair blowing about their heads as the dying embers of a hurricane-force wind settled down around them. Sayoko stood where she was, panting with the force of her own exertion, while Nova blinked her eyes twice, took one look at her fallen Robot and then flashed a chagrined smile and said, "Okay...this round goes to you, but I'll be back before you know it, and I'm sending you the repair bill, lady!"

And so the cherry haired warrior-and fallen giant-vanished from the spot, leaving the three companions to sort out the details in the ensuing silence, which same did not get broken for at least one long, drawn out minute.

Then Troi stirred herself and said, "Two?"

"Yes?"

"You definitely need to take her out more often."

"Evidently," Iczer Two agreed, only to react with a start as Sayoko's strength began to ebb, and then the human girl sagged to her knees, prompting Iczer Two to rush to her side in time to catch her.

"What's going on there?" their absent sister One demanded, "Troi, Two, Sayoko? Someone answer me! What has happened...?"

"Troi here, Oneechan," Troi replied, "Mission success, the hostages are secure. Two and Sayoko-chan are okay. The enemy retreated, tail between legs and all...which just goes to show that you should never underestimate the fury of a Partner scorned."

"A lesson I know quite well," Iczer One said with amusement, then paused before adding, "Imoutochan...I didn't mean to..."

"Hey, you know the old saying as well as I do," Troi said softly, "Bare is the back of an Iczer without a partner, right?" she sighed as she saw Iczer Two gather up Sayoko in her arms, cradling the Terran girl as though she were something precious and fragile, and-not for the first or last time-felt a stab of envy pass through her.

"Sister," Iczer Two declared, "We are coming back to base. Have a regeneration cubicle prepared for both me and Sayoko."

"What's wrong?" Iczer One asked in concern, "Were you injured?"

"No," Iczer Two gave a smile of such infinite tenderness and compassion as she studied the features of her much-beloved partner, "Just a little exhausted...but I need to spend some time with her, just as I promised before all of this happened."

"I see," Iczer One's response conveyed total understanding and affection, "All will be ready for you when you arrive, Sisters. Any time you are ready."

"Like...now?" Troi remarked as the three of them-Iczers and human-vanished from the subspace landscape altogether...

"Say what?" Godai declared as he lifted his bokken, "What is that you say concerning yourself and the fair Muku?"

"She is my partner," Rhea said simply, "I will not allow anyone to harm her."

"You will not allow it?" Gel asked skeptically, "And who are you to profess such an interest in Senzenen?"

"I told you before," Rhea replied while maintaining her ready posture, "I am Kano Rhea, and Muku-chan is my partner."

"Muku...chan?" Yumi blinked her eyes, then stared at Muku herself, "Do you know anything about this?"

"Ah...well..." Muku winced, "It's...not what it sounds like, guys...really!"

"What is she, another one of your ever-growing list of fans?" Ken asked, sounding intrigued.

"NO!" Muku protested, "It's not like that...she's just...a new friend is all...really!"

"A...friend?" Sakura frowned, making a real effort to shrug off the drugs that were presently affecting her system.

"Some...friend..." Yui also murmured as she similarly fought to regain control over her own body.

"I see," Gel frowned, "Another meddler. Ah well...as Mother always likes to say, obstacles are for removing..."

"Ah..." Perm spoke up, "I...really don't think that would be such a good idea this time, Sister. This one is not like the others you have been challenging of late...she is...very different..."

"No fooling?" Yumi remarked, "Gee, with those ears and eyes I never would have guessed..."

"Indeed," Godai mused, "How intriguing...such a rare and unearthly beauty, such a fiery disposition, the flash of life that I spy in her eyes..."

"Try looking again, Brother of mine," Perm urged, "Don't you notice that stance? It's identical to Muku's."

"Eh?" Muku herself reacted with a start, recognizing belatedly that the way Rhea was crouching in a battle-ready posture was indeed very much like her own favored Kempo style, suggesting that either her new friend was copying her again or else this Rhea had trained in a very similar Ryu.

"So," Gel remarked, "You are another who has trained in the Anything Goes System?"

"I don't know what this style is called," Rhea replied, "I was caught to fight like this by my Aunt, but I assure you, my technique is most effective. Surrender now and I will not hurt you..."

"Hurt me?" Gel bristled, "We will see about that!"

All at once the purple haired girl reached to her side and produced a series of bowling-pin shaped objects, which same she then employed in an attack as she cried out, "ATTACK OF A THOUSAND CLUBS!"

Rhea held her stance while Muku tried to call out a warning against Gel's onslaught, but though the pins came raining down on the fiery-gold haired Iczer, none of these attacks seemed to so much as touch her, and before anyone knew it the pins were batted away to land upon the ground, scattered about in all directions.

"Your Gymnastic tricks will not work with me," Rhea said simply, "I know all of your moves...I have seen them in the memories of Muku..."

"How's that again?" Yumi blinked.

"She's seen them in...where?" Ken marveled.

"Hooboy," Muku winced, knowing what this would do to her reputation.

"So...you think you have mastered me because you have somehow countered but one of my many styles of attack," Gel bristled, "I can see that I will need to be more resourceful against you. Very well, as you will...have at you!"

Once again Gel reached to her side and pulled out a pair of objects from seeming nowhere...a pair of bonbori maces, huge metal spheres on the end of two wooden handles, which same she began to flex as though they were as light as twin batons, and when she had finished spinning them about she employed these in a double-mace attack that Muku knew to be enormously devastating.

Rhea did not even flinch as her hands went to work, and all at once Gel staggered back, clutching the crushed maces in either hand and staring in disbelief at the fist-shaped impressions that had collapsed these spheres inward. She did not get time enough to draw out yet another set of weapons when Rhea came rushing at her, batting aside the other girl's attempted deflections and scoring with a single punch that connected solidly with the other girl's midsection.

"Whoah!" Godai remarked in dismay as he saw his sister skid backwards on her heels, digging up two trenches in the ground as Gel came to a halt some several meters away, clutching at her own midsection.

"That was just a warning," Rhea declared, "Do not further provoke me to anger."

"You...must be joking," Gel grunted as she forced herself to straighten up, gritting her teeth as she struggled to make her lungs work properly again, "That lovetap barely warrants my respect..."

"I was not striking you with all of my strength," Rhea explained evenly, her eyes alight with barely contained fury, "If I had, then you would not be able to remain upright. I am going easy on you because I am sworn never to harm a normal human, either directly or by mischance...but don't tempt me to violate my own prime directive."

"Or what?" Gel frowned.

Rhea just pointed at the ground in front of the other girl's feet, and all at once a bolt of energy kicked up a burst of grass, sand and gravel.

"Or else...I will become very upset with you...Kuno-san," Rhea said flatly, not bothering to add that her mind was filled with images of past events, of the many times this girl had bothered and harassed Muku, playing cruel and often thoughtless pranks on Rhea's new partner and generally spreading gossip and rumors that had hurt Muku's feelings and had impacted on her relationships with others.

"Oh, you will, will you?" Gel raised her own fists, "Well, it just so happens that I know quite a few tricks of my own, and not all of them involve the employment of weapons. I was intending to prove my mettle in Combat Rhythmic Gymnastics, but if you would rather play by a different set of rules, then you will discover that I am quite accomplished in the arts of the Street Fighter..."

"It matters nothing," Rhea responded, "Your Amazon Wushu is nowhere powerful enough to overcome one of my abilities and skill level. It would be foolish of you to even attempt to use your tricks and potions against me."

"We'll see about that," Gel smiled slyly, then hurled a rubber ball that she had been concealing in one hand direction at Rhea, who caught it without effort, only to have it burst apart into a cloud of smoke that billowed all around her.

"A Piece of Cake," Gel smiled as she rushed forward, only to receive a backhand to the face for her troubles as Rhea penetrated her guard as though it were not even there. The purple haired girl fell heavily to the ground and lay prostrate where she had fallen, prompting her twin sister to cry out her name and rush forward.

"You...resisted the power of my sister's potions?" Godai arched an eyebrow, "I am most impressed..."

"I did not damage her," Rhea replied, "But she made a mistake in thinking her attack would work on me. I have a...somewhat different biochemistry...her poisons do not react the same within my system."

"Even so, you have proven to be quite formidable," Godai raised his bokken, "In which case you may now consider me your new opponent."

Rhea barely even turned her head as she lashed out, slicing through the wooden shaft being directed her way and causing her beam saber to come to a halt only centimeters away from the taller boy's handsome face.

"Do not get any closer to me, please," Rhea replied without looking directly at him, "I am in no mood to be courted by you...or any other male of your species. I am interested only in Muku, and I ask that you desist in your attempts at courting her. She is mine, not yours, and as such I will not tolerate your harassment."

Godai stared at the searing hot tip of the beam sword, then at the cleanly severed length of his boken and involuntarily swallowed. It was not that he felt intimidated by her-Oh no! Far from it! But the thought of such tiggerish aggression emanating from one so slim and fair as this Rhea Kano was...by far the most intriguing thing he had seen all semester.

Rhea withdrew the sword and banished it altogether, then turned away without looking directly at Godai, even going so far as to circle around him as though she dreaded coming too near to his presence, and only then did she approach the open-mouthed Muku, going from anger to concern once again as if her moods could shift from one state to the other like quicksilver.

"Are you all right?" Rhea asked, "They did not hurt you, did they, Muku-chan?"

"Muku-chan, eh?" Yumi gave the petrified Muku a playful elbow to her side and said, "You sly fox you...why didn't you tell us your Dream Girl had the hots for you?"

"A...hah?" Muku blinked, then came out of her daze to declare, "Hey...wait a minute!"

"It would appear that your new admirer is a woman of many talents," observed Ken, who approached them, only to see Rhea back away from him with a look of sudden reluctance, "And...indeed, not all the surprises are from her fighting prowess."

Muku also noticed the way Rhea seemed to shy away from the presence of the men and said, "W-What's wrong with you? Don't you like men?"

"Ah...no..." Rhea said nervously, "I'm sorry...I don't mean to be rude, Ono Ken-  
san, but...would you mind not standing so close to Muku-chan?"

"Eh?" Ken said with obvious surprise, then he glanced at Muku and asked, "What have you been telling her about me?"

"Uh...what?" Muku blinked, "Why...nothing, honest! I haven't mentioned anything about you..."

"I am sorry," Rhea's shoulders slumped somewhat, "I did not mean to interfere in your fight, but when I sensed that you were in danger..."

"You came to rescue her, is that it?" Yumi smiled, "You're sweet on our Muku-  
chan, is that what you're trying to tell us? Well...not surprising...you and half the rest of our school is in her fan club..."

"One moment," Rhea urged, then half-turned her body to stretch out a hand in time to intercept a descending baker's peel that had been aiming for her head. She caught it between thumb and forefinger, halting it in mid-motion, much to the evident surprise of its owner.

"What the...?" Sakura reacted in surprise, finding her best efforts could not pry the thing out of the grip of the slender elf-like beauty.

"Please don't be angry with me, Sakura-chan," Rhea asked with a pleading expression, "I know you wanted to be the one to rescue Muku-chan from the Kunos, but I was fulfilling my primary function by protecting her, so there really is no reason for you to be angry."

"Let go!" Sakura urged, only to go flying backwards when Rhea complied with her demand. Landing heavily on her rump put her in no better mood than before, though now at least she looked up with a wary note of caution at the armored elvish beauty.

"Sakura!" Muku was shocked at her friend's behavior, "What are you doing?"

"Behaving like a barbarian, which only comes natural to her," Yui replied as she, too, joined the little band surrounding Muku and Rhea. The Shrine maiden eyed the newcomer with somewhat more apprehension, "You have a very strange aura...I can sense great power within you...and there is definitely a link between you and Muku-san...that much is for certain."

"Huh?" Muku blinked, "Now wait a minute...I only just met her a few days ago..."

"That hardly seems to matter," Yui replied, "There is a psychic link joining the both of you, and that explains how she knew that you were in danger from Gel's treachery. Strangers or not, you and this girl are soul-mated, like two halves of one complete puzzle."

"Just what the heck does that mean?" Sakura growled, "And what is she to you anyway, Senzenen? You were talking about her the other day as if she was just some phantom out of your daydreams, and now here she shows up to clean up the deck with Gel Kuno?"

"Obviously there is more to this story than we have been allowed to know," Ken agreed with his iinazuke.

"Yeah, what's the deal here, and why haven't you spilled the juicy details with us, your friends?" Yumi demanded, "Don't you care at all about our feelings?"

"Uh...guys...there's no need for you to make a bit production out of everything," Muku insisted, "We're just...recently acquainted. Rhea's from another town and just moved into Nerima, right?"

"Um...something like that," Rhea hesitated, only to react with a yelp as Godai put his hand around her body and hugged her from behind, copping a good feel of what was not covered by platelets of bioarmor.

"Ah, fair Sylphen Maiden of the fiery gold hair-" was as far as he got before Rhea overcame her surprise and reacted with a yelp, her elbow driving into the solar plexus oof the taller boy to know the wind out of his sails, and then she reached up to grasp him by the collar and hurled him bodily into the air like the proverbial rag doll.

Godai landed with a "thump" somewhat near to his unconscious sister, causing Perm to heave a sigh as she went to check on his condition, then decided to leave him lying where he was, giving Rhea an apologetic expression.

"Now that he had coming," Ken remarked matter-of-factly.

"Sorry about that," the purple haired Perm heaved a sigh, "My brother means well...sort of."

Rhea was actually panting with a panicked expression on her face, but once she started to calm down enough to look horrified at her own actions, "Oh...I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hurt him like that...it was...reflex..."

"Calm down," Yumi urged, "It's just Kuno Godai...he'll be all right. Landing on his head just means the gardeners in this park will have to do some grass replanting."

"But I shouldn't have hit him so hard," Rhea insisted, "If he hadn't grabbed me that way..."

"It's nothing I haven't done to him plenty of times in the past," Muku assured her nominal "partner," adding a faint smile as she went on, "Godai thinks it's cute to sneak up on a girl and cop a quick feel. Guess he wasn't expecting quite such a sudden reaction."

"The annoying pervert's really been getting out of hand of late," Sakura sniffed, "Even his parents think he's a little too much over the top, while Gel's obviously been playing with her baton a little too much. Still he's not a totally clueless moron...and he is a pretty good fighter, when he's not behaving like a total jerk..."

"I thought you didn't have any interest in men," Ken pointed out.

"Certain guys get on my nerves," Sakura growled without glancing back in her fianc e's direction, "I don't blame you for getting hysterical about Godai...but...mind explaining again what you meant when you said that Muku belongs to you and is your partner?"

"Uh...guys?" Muku winced, "There's really nothing much to tell. Rhea and I just went ice skating together earlier today..."

"You went ice skating with her?" Yumi asked with an incredulous expression.

"Yes," Rhea agreed, "And then when I spoke with Muku-chan while she was taking a bath I explained to her that...MMPPH?" she blinked her eyes as Muku suddenly clamped a hand over her mouth.

"You took a BATH together?" Sakura bristled.

"No!" Muku hastily shook her head in denial, even as Rhea stood looking puzzled over being so rudely muzzled, "It wasn't like that, honest! We just talked, that's all, just talked!"

"Yeah, sure," Yumi said with skeptical derision, "That's all you did, huh?"

"Then why are you blushing?" Yui asked with a poignant expression.

"Ah..." Muku hastily released the much-puzzled Rhea and felt her own cheeks, "Ah...maybe I've just...er...come down with a flu or something...yeah...that's right...I'm feeling down under the weather..."

"Pull the other one," Ken remarked with a particularly droll expression.

Sakura stood with balled fists glaring at Muku, but when the latter tried to ask what was wrong she turned her head and sniffed, "Well, it's none of my concern who you meet with for a tryst, but you could try being a little more discrete about it in the future."

"I...what?" Muku asked, sharing with Rhea a blank look of mutual incomprehension.

"Well then," Yumi clapped her hands and grinned broadly, "If that's all settled, why don't we all go somewhere to sit down and get to know each other better? Rhea-san, what do you say we all have a little heart-to-heart chat over a nice hot plate of okonomiyaki, my treat?"

"Okonomiyaki?" Rhea blinked.

"Sure," Ken replied, "It's Sakura-chan's house specialty, whipped up by her mother and as flavorful as any meal you could ask for from here to China."

"Is it that good?" Rhea asked, turning an earnest look towards Muku.

"You've never tried okonomiyaki?" Sakura asked skeptically, "Where have you been living?"

"New Gamora city," Rhea replied, "I mean...not around here anyway..."

"New Gamora?" Yui frowned, "I don't think I've ever heard of that place before..."

"It is...someplace new...it was founded only a few years ago by my people...you wouldn't have heard about it, it's supposed to be a secret," Rhea added as she glanced down with a sheepish expression.

"A secret, huh?" Yumi grinned, "Well, we won't tell anybody, right guys?"

"I confess this air of mystery around Muku's new friend has me more than a little bit intrigued," Ken remarked.

"Just make sure you keep it academic, baka," Sakura grumbled under her breath, then sighed, "You might as well come home with me to my place...I'd like to introduce you to my Dad, I'll bet he'll be impressed with your Kempo style...it's almost exactly like Muku's."

"It is?" Rhea blinked, turning to exchange another puzzled look with Muku.

"Ah...well..." Muku shrugged, "I guess maybe you ought to meet Uncle Ranma, he's kind of a local legend here. Besides...I think you'll like okonomiyaki."

Rhea brightened up from the shy girlishness that she had been manifesting, smiling as she looked adoringly at Muku and said, "If you think that I will, then I'd be happy to try it. I am sure that Mrs. Saotome is a very fine chef..."

"Got that right," Sakura sniffed, "Best in all Japan, accept no seconds."

"Excuse me," Perm spoke up, "Do you mind if I tag along with you? My siblings will be recovering consciousness very soon and I...would rather not be around to hear them ranting about some new challenger who is stealing their thunder."

"Sure," Yumi agreed, "We're always glad to have your around, Perm. It's not like it's your fault that you have idiots for relations."

Perm heaved a sigh and said, "They're not always like this...but lately...they've been totally obsessed about Muku, it's like they live, eat and breathe to have either vengeance or satisfaction for past wrongs both real and imagined...mostly the latter of course."

"Of course," Yui sniffed, "How could it be otherwise with those two?"

"I feel...very bad about hurting them," Rhea conceded, "But don't you get tired of always having to apologize for their behavior?"

"You would think I would after all this time," Perm shook her purple haired head with a look of great sadness.

"Cheer up, gang," Yumi beamed, "A serving of the best tasting okonomiyaki in Japan will perk you all up, then we can get the low down about how you two lovebirds first met, Muku-chan, and why you've been keeping this one under wraps all of this time."

"Ah..." Muku said nervously, once again taking notice of the way that Rhea kept glancing her way and wondered if her friends were entirely wrong in their impression. There was little doubt that some kind of a bond did exist between herself and the other girl, but what it could be she did not want to speculate, fearing that looking too closely into the matter was bound to open up a can of worms the likes of which she could not presently even imagine. It was bad enough just sorting out her own feelings, let alone explain them to her friends, but...seeing no graceful way to save face over the matter, she decided to relent, hoping that there might yet be someway to salvage her already tarnished reputation.

Besides, given the way Rhea tended to let things slip in casual conversation, there was a good chance that she might learn something new and interesting to further unravel the mystery surrounding this girl. It was worth a try anyway...and besides...she found that she was actually interested in seeing how Rhea would react to the taste of okonomiyaki...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Cooking at Ucchan's: shadowmane

The C'thuwulf take stock of what they have learned concerning the enemy while Rhea learns a bit about human socialization rituals, and Muku introduces her to one of her teachers...but is there more to the resemblance of Rhea's combat style to the Musubetsu Kakuto Ryu than a mere coincidence, or is there even more to this story than anyone heretofore suspects? Tune in next time for: "Taking Leave of your Sensei," or "An Iczer in the hand is worth Two who get Ambushed." Be there!

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	7. Chapter 7

Eathchild07

The Earthchild

(A Ranma/Iczer/Next Gen Crossover)

by Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi &amp; Others)

Chapter Seven.

"I see..." mused Sur Violet, leaning on her staff as she considered the image of her terrestrial counterpart, the Lady Protector of their C'thuwulf Earthbase, "So...in other words the enemy appears to have our technology insofar as they are able to create their own Iczer Robo, and this Bioroid who claimed to be Iczer Two's daughter, this self-described Nova?"

"That is the gist of the report my sisters related when I debriefed them," Iczer One replied, "Apparently our enemy is the same one that we faced so long ago, before we put our protection protocols into place..."

"You mean before I allowed myself to be taken over and used as their pawn," Violet sighed, "You don't need to mince words with me, Iczer One...my memory is still vivid concerning the time when I foolishly allowed Big Gold to control the destiny of our people."

"Those times are long in the past," Iczer One replied, "You must not dwell upon a single mistake that was reversed long before the present era. We must concentrate our resources to deal with the new enemy, the one presently at hand..."

"Quite right," Violet nodded, "But as you are our chosen Protector, I think it right that you should lead the C'thuwulf in at this time while I maintain the civilian end of our defenses."

"That would be wise," Iczer One agreed, "The morale of our people is every bit as important as our physical defenses, and there must never again be a repeat of the Intrusion. As a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, so too are our people bound together by the strength of character. Should one of us falter, it might create the opening that the enemy will need to infuse its presence among us again..."

"As happened before when I proved to be that weak link?" Violet asked with no little irony in her voice, "Perhaps I am not exactly the best example to use as a leader in these times..."

"No," Iczer One replied, "You are exactly the right kind of leader that we need, Mother to us all. You are proof that the hope and the dream for our people can never truly die. You, more than any other, know what the consequences would be if we were fall under the dominion of the enemy once again. No one better knows what is at stake here, and what signs we should look for. You are the symbol of our survival and continuation, and so you can best serve us by giving others the confidence that we will need to persevere against the darkness."

"I hope that you are right," Violet replied, "The last time it took you altering reality to void our doom, and there is no telling what extremes might be needed should the enemy prove more formidable than even we are estimating."

"The jury is still out on that," Iczer One replied, "Are there any points of irregularity out on your end?"

"No," Violet replied with some surprise, "That is the curious thing...all of the troubles that we have noted so far seem to be concentrated on the Earth, especially around New Gamora. Our Iczelion scouts report clear space all around the Worldship, and we're hoping that this condition will continue...but if matters take a turn for the worst, then we are prepared to take whatever steps are necessary to protect the Earth and our People."

"This very much would seem to fit the pattern that we have noticed so far," Iczer Two said grimly, "Is Sister Grey online?"

"I am here, Protector," a fair-haired woman stepped forward to share a space in the light of command chamber.

"Are your people making any progress in determining the nature of these intrusions and where they might be originating?" Iczer One inquired, "It would help if you could give us a lead to the lair or stronghold of the Venomoids, or at least give us some idea of how large an enemy force we may be up against so that we can prepare for a worst-case scenario..."

"I am sorry, Protector," Grey replied, "We are still going over the data to determine the nature of these attacks, but we have ruled out a terrestrial source for these intrusions...in fact, we are almost certain that the attacks are crossing through the Subspace net from a source in a parallel dimension...possibly on one of the shadow earths that we have been monitoring with our sensor probes. I think you can see what disturbing implications this leaves open..."

"I...do," Iczer One said grimly, "And if you are right, then it would explain many of the puzzling things that we have encountered in these attacks, not least of which is the existence of another Iczer."

"In which case further research would be prudent," Violet counseled, "But I think it would be safe to say that the enemy has only just begun to tip her hand, and if we are correct in this new speculation, then it is possible that far worse is in store for us all. Be wary, Protector, I believe that the past few days have been only an opening salvo."

"My thoughts run along similar lines, Mother to us all," Iczer One replied, "Vigilance runs both ways, however, and my sisters stand united with me to resist the enemy should they attempt to inflict their evil on our new home planet. Protector Kano out."

Sur Violet sighed as she leaned against her command staff, gazing at the starry nightfield that lay beyond their moon-sized vessel, then murmuring softly to herself, "Ah...my daughter...I hope that your faith in me is well placed, for we will need all of our resources in the coming days ahead if our fears prove valid..."

Back on Earth in the command center, Iczer One had similar misgivings as she turned to Nagisa, then said, "We may be in for much worse than we thought. If it turns out to be Gold..."

"Hey," Nagisa tried to reassure her, "You beat her twice, we can do it to her again if she raises her sorry head to try and give us grief for a third time."

"WE defeated her the last time, Nagisa-chan," Iczer One smiled softly, "But even then it was no easy battle. Sayoko was fairly exhausted using her Iczelion powers as she did, and my sister is presently comforting her while they share the regenerative process together. Whoever this Nova is, she was strong enough to give Troi a rough time, and you know how formidable my Sisters are in a battle."

"So what?" Nagisa shrugged, "You're still the strongest one of the bunch, and you've got me to back you up...so what could go wrong?"

"Let's hope we don't find out," Iczer One averred, all too much aware of what a broad statement such as that could portend, "But in the meantime we have something of a more personal nature to consider. Our Rhea has several times now made contact with her new partner...but this...Muku Dori Senzenen..."

"I follow you," Nagisa nodded, "She could be the weak link you were talking about a moment ago, and that could spell bad news for our little Rhea."

"I am thinking..." Iczer One hesitated, "Perhaps we may not have the luxury of waiting for Rhea to bring her Partner in gently. There may be a need to directly intervene in this matter..."

"You mean the way you did with me?" Nagisa smiled in a way that triggered memories in both women.

In response to this Iczer One could only sigh and roll her eyes, "Oh yes...I remember how famously well that went..."

"I wasn't ready to have someone like you in my life," Nagisa replied, "It took me time to get used to the idea, let alone to get a hang on this Partnership deal...but now that we've passed all of the hurdles, I wouldn't change a thing about it...at least in the present reality that you created."

"But your point is well taken," Iczer One nodded, "Going too fast could prove catastrophic. At best we would be...meddlesome parents intruding in the personal life of our daughter..."

"And at worst we could wind up driving a wedge between our child and her significant other," Nagisa said softly, then paused before adding, "By the way...where is Rhea-chan? Isn't she back yet from visiting her White Starling?"

"Now who sounds just like a mother?" Iczer One half-smiled.

"Very funny," Nagisa sniffed, "So...do you think we should worry? I mean...they might have run into trouble again, and the last time Rhea-chan got injured..."

"I do not sense...hostility or danger...emanating from Rhea at the moment," Iczer One said thoughtfully, "Instead I sense...nervousness, hopefulness, uncertainty and...how curious...a flavor that I should know from somewhere before. It tastes almost like...okonomiyaki?"

"Okonomiyaki?" Nagisa blinked, "You mean...like maybe they went to a restaurant? Like...on a date? Hey! What if this Muku chick tries to put the moves on our Rhea...?"

"I should think that you would have more faith in our child to behave herself in such a matter," Iczer One said in amusement.

"It isn't Rhea I'm worried about," Nagisa said crossly, "You know how us Earth Girls tend to behave with you C'thuwulf...maybe this Muku can't keep her hands off our little Rhea..."

"I hardly think that would be likely," Iczer One replied.

"Why not?" Nagisa shot back with a winsome smile, "Do you think I'd trust myself around you on a date? Don't forget that this Muku is supposedly a perfect match for our little Rhea..."

"Ah..." Iczer One tried to think about it and found her mind balking, but then she dismissed the thought with a casual, "Well...it hardly matters anyway. I sent Troi along to bring her home, and my sister has promised that she will be discrete in making contact..."

"What?" Nagisa reacted, blinking, "You sent TROI to check on RHEA, and you expect her to be discrete about it? Honey...are you out of your mind or something?"

"But Troi knows her way around in the human world," Iczer One insisted, "And she knows as well how to keep a low profile..."

"A-hah," Nagisa said skeptically, "Pull the other one. Think about it, I-chan, Troi-Iczer Three-keeping a low profile? You know what that means?"

"Ah...well...um..." Iczer One visibly blanched, "I...think I see your point..."

"That's it," Nagisa sniffed, "You're coming with me back into the regenerator just as soon as Two and Sayoko get back out again! No way am I taking it easy with your Hell-on-wheels sibling on the loose. I love her like she was my own sister, but Troi is a BAAAAAD influence for Rhea, and you well know it."

"Um...did I err?" Iczer One asked with a sheepish expression.

Nagisa sighed, coming off her high-horse, then shrugged her shoulders and said, "Oh well...we all make mistakes, and after all...you're only human..." she grinned sweetly, taking her partner by the hand and squeezing it in a reassuring manner, all the while trying to picture in her mind the unlikely concept of the silver haired Iczer Three maintaining her idea of a "low profile..."

"Well, what do you think?"

Rhea took the wafer of piping hot cheese, crust and toppings and held it up to her lips, taking great care in biting the solid food in a delicate manner, much as she had been taught to do by her mother. To her surprise the flavor proved indescribably good, and after a few moments of dainty chewing with her eyebrows fully raised she turned to the chef and declared, "It's very good..."

"The best in Japan," Sakura said with understandable pride, glancing at an older counterpart to herself and saying, "Just the way my mother taught me."

"What can I say?" the older woman said as she ruffled the younger one's hair with affection, "A real chip off the old block, like mother like daughter, right Sugar?"

"Oh...sure," Sakura managed to say without wincing, "Must be genetics...or something like that..."

"Oh, Genetics is very important to development," Rhea remarked between taking, chewing and swallowing more modest bites, "But there is much to be said for learning about your individual potential. My mothers, for example, are both excellent fighters, but I needed to study a variety of techniques in order to fully master them. You can't program the finer nuances of battle without living them first..."

"Um...excuse me?" Ken asked, "Did you just say...mothers? As in plural?"

"Um...yes," Rhea said sheepishly, "I don't...really have a...father, at least not in the sense you would be thinking of at the moment..."

"Sounds like a pretty interesting place where you hail from," Yumi noted.

"I'd like to know more about what she means by programming," Yui frowned, "It sounds almost like she was comparing herself to a computer."

"Um...perhaps that was a poor analogy," Rhea considered, "Neural programming isn't the same as working with your silicon-based relays...which are much too crude and mechanical, for one thing..."

"You know of something better?" Sakura asked with a puzzled expression.

"I...know of...other ways in which to employ advanced technology," Rhea admitted with a sheepish expression, "I...was not intending to imply anything disrespectful..."

"I agree with Yumi-chan, it does sounds as though you come from a very interesting place," Perm remarked in calm observation, "So...how did you and Muku-san first meet?"

"Um...guys?" Muku winced, "Could you mind laying off the twenty questions? I mean, she's still new in town and already you're pumping her for information. Let her finish her meal first, then if she wants to talk about it, you can grill her..."

"Oh, I do not mind conversing with your friends, Muku-chan," Rhea assured, "It is an honor to meet with them, as it was in meeting your parents..."

"You met her parents?" Sakura replied with arching eyebrows.

"Oh yes," Rhea replied, "They're...quite nice people, especially her mother..."

"What about Muku's father?" Yui asked.

"Oh...he's...very nice too," Rhea said with obvious reluctance, "He is very skilled...I can see where Muku learned so much from him, and where she gained her superb reflexes..."

"You have a problem with men, don't you?" Ken remarked with a cautious expression.

"I'm sorry," Rhea looked down rather than glance directly at him, "It is not that...there is anything wrong with you...it is just that..." again she hesitated, clearly reluctant to complete the rest of her statement.

Fortunately for her a sympathetic ear was on hand, as Sakura's mother said, "Sugar, there's lots of us women who have a problem with men. Take Muku-chan's own mother, for example...she had a real problem dealing with boys our age long before she met up with Mikado..."

"Auntie?" Muku's ears perked up as she heard a reference to the premarital days of her parents, a time of which she had only the sketchiest information.

"Of course I had my own share of hassles dealing with boys before I met my husband," the older Saotome continued, earning a studious look from her curious daughter, "Heck, I even tried passing myself off as a boy for a number of years before I decided I liked being a girl, which is when I chose to marry my Ranma..."

"You...disguised yourself as a...boy?" Rhea asked in surprise, "Why would you do this?"

"Long story, Sugar," the owner of the restaurant waved a dismissive hand, then stared a bit more intently at Rhea before saying, "You know...you remind me of someone I once knew a long time ago...never did catch her name, but with those eyes and ears, I think you definitely must be related..."

"That...does not seem too likely, Saotome-sama," Rhea replied, "My family tends to be a bit...clannish..."

"Well, it's no nevermind," the senior chef sniffed, "So...how did you and Muku-  
chan meet anyway?"

"Ah...well..." Muku hesitated, "We just sort of...ran into each other on the way to school, and later on she...um...dropped by to see how I was doing..."

"That isn't how you told it to me and Sakura," Yumi chimed in, "There were monsters in that version, and you made it sound like she's twice saved your life."

"Oho?" the senior Chef remarked with lifted eyebrows, "I guess that makes you something of a heroine, young lady..."

"Um...I'm not sure if that is how I would put things, Lady Saotome," Rhea said with reluctance.

"Call me Ukyo," the older woman seemed amused by the self-effacing manner of the "elf-girl," who then added slyly, "Or Ucchan...either one's good enough for me. Mrs. Saotome makes me sound like somebody's mother..."

"Mom," Sakura winced.

Muku felt sympathetic to the embarrassed feelings of her oldest friend, but when she glanced at her newest companion she felt an odd mix of confusing emotions. It was not just sympathy over the way Rhea was being pestered with questions by the rest of her friends and close associations, it was the sense that this entire situation was apparently so new to Rhea's experience that she felt as if the girl would melt right through the seat of her chair at any minute. That the strawberry blonde "elf girl" was at least making an effort to socialize with the others was something that could be appreciated on a certain level, but Muku felt as if-at any minute-one of her friends would ask a much-too-personal question and Rhea would be compelled to answer with honesty and integrity in terms that would really turn heads and convince everyone that Muku was just as strange by association.

But then she sensed-as well as felt-how Rhea stiffened and sat more alert in her chair as though hearing a sound that only her ears could detect. Then-  
very slowly-Rhea began to turn around, only to hear a voice call out, "Well...so this is where you got off to, young Lady. Fancy meeting you here of all places..."

"Hey, check it out," said Otaru to his street companions as they turned their heads in time to see the motorcycle pulling up alongside the curve upon which they were standing.

"Whoah," said Hiyami, the second oldest of the youths present, "What planet did that momma hail from?"

"I dunno," agreed Yonta, the third of their little street-savvy group, "But wherever it is, I wanna go there for a visit!"

The driver of the motorcycle, a sleeveless leather-jacketed, statuesque beauty whose long mane of silvery hair hung down her back like a flowing cape. As she drew her powerful vehicle to a stop alongside a certain restaurant she adjusted the sunglasses that she was wearing and smiled. Said smile did not go unnoticed by the trio of street toughs, who interpreted it as a sign of a friendly disposition.

Said "friendly" look clashed somewhat with the hard-edged "biker babe" look that she was doing her best to uphold, her long legs barely contained by a set of jeans that were two sizes too tight around her hips. A bare midriff exposing her middle half while the halter top that (barely) contained her bounteous upper chest. A pair of metal studded boots and a dangling chain about her waist added to the appearance of a "tough girl" on a machine too large for someone so slender and graceful looking. Even her curiously pointed ears seemed to somehow add weight to the impression of a "Elf" dressed up like a heavy-metal biker, and the low-slung cap that completed the impression made her look like a refugee from the "Wild Bunch," unusual even for the modern-day streets of a province like Nerima.

Most curious of all, she seemed to be focusing her attention on a local okonomiyaki restaurant that was connected to a dojo, a well-known landmark on the Nerima landscape, and home to many a legend that the locals here spoke of with awe and disbelief, though the white haired beauty was chiefly concerned with something that she sensed was inside the building...

Or rather...someone.

"Well now," Troi remarked, in wry amusement, "Who's going native this time around, eh? Not too shabby, niece...and definitely on par for our jolly little family."

"Yo, big Silver Momma!" Otaru hailed as he and his comrades approached, "You new in these parts, or are you looking for somebody special?"

"That would be me, right?" Hiyami leered as he leaned on Otaru's shoulder and eyed the silver-haired biker with undisguised interest, "You're looking for a real man, I'm you're number one choice."

"In your dreams," Yonta snorted, "She's looking for a guy who can rock her world, not make her puke up her lunch."

"Hmm," Troi gave the trio a quick scan to make sure that none of them were carrying the Venomoid influence, then smiled when she read them as all-clear and "mostly harmless." She lowered the kickstand and dismounted from her bike, then stood to her full height and said, "Sorry boys, I'm a little bit too far outside your league. Besides, I've got business to attend to."

"You want business, we can help," Otaru said hopefully.

"Yeah, we know all about this neighborhood," Hiyami offered, "We can show you sights you won't find in any of the tour books."

Troi mused that these fellows were considering her an "easy pick up," and considered disabusing them of that notion in quick good order. Her sisters would definitely make plain their lack of interest in the male half of the human population, Iczer One by ignoring their clumsy pick-up lines, Two by flattening them where they stood, then stepping on their egos in passing, but Troi was of a very different make and model. She had tried men in the past and found them...amusing. She was primarily female-oriented, of course, but she was at least willing to experiment with something new and different, unlike some C'thuwulf, who could not even bear the sight of a man without flinching.

But this was no time to pick up a quick date...later, maybe, but not while they were faced with a looming crisis. After the battle was ended was a good time to come back and explore "alternative" options, which meant that burning her bridges here was definitely not a tactic to her liking.

"Thanks for the offer, boys," Troi smiled, removing her sunglasses, "And I'm flattered, really, but...like I said before, I'm a little too fast for you. Give it a couple of years and I'll bet you three will turn out to be really something."

"Are you calling us boys?" Yonta replied, hooking a thumb as he said, "We're not, we're Men!"

(Yeah,) Troi thought to herself with amusement, (and how long have any of you been shaving?) Aloud what she said was, "Yeah, I can see you are..." she looked him up and down with meaning, then she playfully stretched out a hand and cupped the guy's groin area, giving him a very light and playful "squeeze," just to get her point across without hurting him and added, "And I'll bet you'd like to let this bad boy out to play...but...I've really got to get on to my appointment. I've got a niece I want to snag, and family takes precedence over fun where I come from."

"Urk!" Yonta winced, more for effect than in actual pain as Troi sauntered on by him with an exaggerated wiggle in her hips. The other two youths followed her movements as though she were a loadstone and their eyes were bar magnets.

"Hey, wait..." Otaru said as he shook off his daze, "You're an Aunt? No way!"

"You don't look old enough to get carded!" Hiyami protested.

Troi paused to fetch them a glance over her shoulder, then smiled in a way that could only set male pulses to racing and added in a sultry voice, "Don't let appearances fool you, boys...I may be young for my age, but I'm mature in all the ways that really matter."

The sound of a triple "GULP" could be heard as the trio stared after the wake of the platinum haired Iczer, the rage of male hormones at war with an instinctive sense that the new object of their fantasies was definitely of a class well beyond their dreams of acquisition. Of course they had to wonder about the curious embroidery on the back of her jacket, which bore the Mong symbols in kanji that read, "ICZERS RULE!" in bold silver relief.

Troi could not help smiling to herself, amused as she was at the predictable behavior of the strange life form known as the "male of the species." Ten years of close observation and association with Earth creatures had given her some insight into the strange internal dynamic that characterized masculine behavior, no matter what age beyond puberty to obsolescence. She could remember a time when men had seemed strange and even threatening, a great unknown and unfathomable enigma that no C'thuwulf nor Bioroid could ever hope to unravel.

Experience and close association with a number of male friends had taught her not to fear this enigma, nor to feel threatened by the fact that men found her sexually exciting, or even to find it in the least bit unsettling since she had a better grasp of why men felt that way towards women than most others of her class and culture. Troi did not share their level of excitement, unfortunately...there was just something missing from male anatomy that failed to "flip her switches," like it would for a normal Earth woman. Something in biology and evolution, she reckoned, or perhaps the fact that her very construction was geared to a different sort of outlet, but still and all Troi could have fun with men and even obtain a measure of satisfaction from their exchanges. It certainly could liven up an evening, amusing herself by studying their reactions to her well-learned and carefully calculated routine of "teasing" and "seduction."

She sighed as she contemplated the real reason why men could never hope to satisfy her in that "special kind of way." She was waiting for someone...someone special who had yet to manifest, and that waiting was seriously gnawing on her nerves of late, being the only Iczer who did not yet have a partner...

And on that depressing note she entered the restaurant and did a quick scan of the interior surroundings, immediately picking out a rather handsome looking woman behind the counter and grill. Troi "scouted" her out the way she normally would any attractive looking female, seeing signs of age and maturity that definitely meant she was no "spring chicken," but still retaining a vigorous youth about her frame that appealed to Troi in a rough-and-tumble kind of way. The woman's long brown hair was done up in a pony tail that was bound up with a bow tie ribbon, and her outfit was that of a traditional Japanese cook, albeit that there was a bandoleer of mini-spatulas stretching across her chest that looked as if they would make dandy weapons in the right sort of hands. That the chef in question did seem like the "right sort" only added to her allure in Troi's rather jaded estimation, and there was even a younger version standing next to her that could have been a younger sister which only added to the attraction.

Sitting before the counter on a row of bench seats were a group of teenagers, and-set further down the way-was Rhea herself, whose back was turned to Troi but who could plainly sense the presence of her Aunt, just as Troi could sense her even at street level, causing the fiery gold haired Iczer to turn around and stare at her silver-haired elder. Troi smiled as she acknowledged the stare of her younger counterpart, then strode forward and said, "Well, so this is where you got off to, young lady. Fancy meeting you here of all places..."

"Aunt Troi?" Rhea asked, at which point Muku also turned and stared in blank amazement at the sight of the (somewhat) older warrior in her biker leathers, at which point her mouth hung open and her eyes nearly doubled in circumference.

"What's the matter, kid?" Troi asked as she took notice of Muku's expression, "Didn't think the Squirt here had any more like her at home?"

"Another one?" Ken asked in amazement.

"That's her...Aunt?" Yumi also seemed astonished.

"Um...one of them, anyway," Rhea meekly interjected.

"I can see the family resemblance," Perm noted matter-of-factly.

"So can I," Yui agreed, murmuring under her breath, "And what's with those ears anyway?"

"Oh, these?" Troi indicated her own with her fingers, "What can I say? Would you believe my folks are big fans of Tolkien? Got the whole series in MDVD and everything..."

"Um...Auntie Troi," Rhea stood up and indicated the others, "These are my partner and her friends, whom I only just met today...her friends, I mean...Muku-chan I met several days ago..."

"I get the point, Niece," Troi waved it away, then stared at the one referred to by name and said, "So you're Senzenen Muku Dori, the girl chosen to be Rhea-  
chan's partner..."

"Um...excuse me?" Muku replied, wondering if this new girl was as wild in her behavior as she looked, and the thought that she could be Rhea's aunt seemed a stretch by anyone's measure. She definitely did not look to be much older than Rhea herself, though her height and bearing gave one the impression of robust power and a dynamic personality, the sort of which could be explosive if one were to mess with her in any substantial manner.

"So," the older Ukyo spoke up, "Have you come to pick your niece up or would you care to order something from the establishment, Sugar?"

"Okonomiyaki?" Troi grinned, "Sure thing. Way I hear it you serve the best in town, maybe even Japan..."

"More like the world," Ukyo bragged.

"Why stop there?" Troi grinned even more broadly, "How about the Universe? I've got it on pretty good authority that the best okonomiyaki is served here on Earth and no other planet..."

"Why, what a nice thing to say," Ukyo smiled back, "I can tell that you're a real fan of okonomiyaki."

"Why do you think I keep coming back to this planet for more?" Troi said as she sat down on a bench, pretending to ignore the stares that she was receiving from the other occupants of the restaurant, including a non-plussed Sakura.

While Ukyo fetched up a hot okonomiyaki to serve to her new customer, Yumi leaned closer to Rhea and said, "Is she really your Aunt? She's way too cool to be a senior citizen..."

"Ah...well...my aunt is kind of a young-at-heart sort of person..." Rhea sheepishly noted.

"No fooling," Yui remarked, "Just how old is she, really?"

"That...might be difficult to say..." Rhea started to explain, when Troi looked up from her meal and answered for her through a half-full mouth of Japanese pizza, "I'm twenty, kid...don't believe it? I got references I can show you."

"Twenty?" Ken marveled, "Interesting..."

"MMMMMMM-YUMMY!" Troi exclaimed to the loud smacking of her fingers, "My compliments to the chef! You not only look hot, you cook like a dream, baby!"

Ukyo actually blushed at the compliment, "Why, thank you! You really are the charming sort, but I'm afraid I'm already committed."

"Really?" Troi made a face, "How disappointing. Tell me who the jerk is and I'll tell him what a lucky dog he is. Oh well...at least you've got a really foxy younger sister...don't tell me she's your daughter?"

"I'm afraid she is," Ukyo ruffled Sakura's hair-much to the latter's chagrin, "But she's also promised to young Master Ken here, who's her promised iinazuke."

"You mean him?" Troi hooked a thumb towards Ken, then looked that worthy up and down as if sizing him up for something-either pleasant or unpleasant, "What have you got that makes you so special, other than killer looks, a good head and a tight set of buns, cutie?"

"Hey!" Sakura went instantly from nervous apprehension to jealous anger without stopping at points in between, and reflexively she started to reach for her bakers peel even as Rhea exclaimed, "AUNTIE!"

"What?" Troi asked, giving a look of innocence that dared one to ask what could possibly be the matter.

"What seems to be the problem here?" a new voice intruded on the scene as a tall man walked in through the door carrying a box of groceries in both hands.

Muku caught Rhea's sharp intake as her new friend turned around to stare at the new arrival, which prompted her to say by introduction, "That's my uncle Ranma, there's no need to be afraid of him, he doesn't bite."

"Your Uncle...Ranma?" Rhea asked, seeing a weathered-but-handsome face that bore several scars of combat, framed by a red Chinese-style shirt and a dark set of trousers.

"Huh?" Troi turned around and gaped, then gestured at the man and said, "HEY! I know you! You're that guy...the one my Big Sis used to hang around with, the one who gave her combat lessons!"

"Say WHAT?" Sakura reacted.

"Excuse me?" the man in question asked, then stared back at the ivory haired Iczer before saying, "Hey...you do look kind of familiar...ten years ago, wasn't it? But...you've grown a bit since then..."

"Excuse me?" Ukyo asked as she vaulted over her own grill, moving with an ease that belied any thoughts of calling her a "Senior," and her combat spatula was in her hands as she hovered ominously near to the man, saying with a half-  
serious glare, "You mind explaining that one in more detail...Sugar?"

"Urk!" the man in question responded, finding the edge of a giant spatula poised mere centimeters from his face, which same he hastily moved aside with the edge of his box, which he held up like a shield as he said, "Now wait a second Ucchan! I can explain things! Remember ten years ago, all that business that wound up flattening half the town, the giant robot and its pilots?"

"You mean the redhead and the kid?" Ukyo remarked, then stood back and slung her spatula over her shoulder, "Well, why didn't you say so, Mister? Put the things in the pantry and pull up a seat...I want to hear the details on this one with the kids, especially the part where you ran into this silver-haired sweet talker."

"Sure thing," the man said, moving hastily to deliver his cargo around behind the counter, moving with such fluidity and grace that even Rhea was moved to watch in awe of his prowess.

"Don't worry so much," Muku assured, "You'll like Uncle Ranma...he's pretty cool as adults go, and he's my Sensei...taught me half of everything I know about the martial arts."

"He is a great warrior?" Rhea asked in amazement.

"The best I've ever heard of," Muku assured, "He just has one...tiny little problem..."

"WHOOOP!" came a startled male voice as Ranma started to vault the counter, only to startled Rhea so much that the glass of water she had begun to pick up went flying to strike the man with its contents.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, you startled me!" Rhea began to apologize, only to stop herself as she stared, finding the man had shrunk a bit, and his hair had noticeably changed color.

"Don't mention it," said Ranma in a higher pitched voice and a tone of resignation, "This sort of thing just...happens..."

"Dad?" Sakura blinked again, not so much for the change as the sense that there was some new revelations that she was about to hear concerning her father.

"I KNEW IT!" Troi was up on her feet and pointing, "I knew you were the guy! Man, is this the department of amazing coincidences or what?"

"No," Ukyo smiled, "It's Nerima."

"Same difference," the now-female Ranma shrugged her shoulders.

Rhea stood where she was, blinking her eyes and staring at the redhead, which left it to Muku to say, "That's what I meant about a...tiny little problem..."

"Welcome to Nerima," Yumi cheerfully perked up, "Where anything can-and inevitably will-happen."

"And usually does," Perm added as a side-note, "Which means you ought to fit right in here."

"I wonder about that," Yui frowned, giving Rhea a curious lookover, but refusing to volunteer further comment on what strange thoughts she happened to be thinking that very moment, deciding a "wait and see" approach was all the more prudent...or at least until she heard the details of the curious story that was about to be revealed concerning these strange elvish women and their redoubtable "Uncle Ranma..."

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Amazing Continuity Coincidences: shadowmane

The story of how Ranma and the Iczers first met will be revealed in the next chapter in, "When Titians Collide," or "A Tale of Two Iczers!" Be there!

X -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	8. Chapter 8

Eartchild08

The Earthchild

(An Iczer/Ranma 1/2 Crossover)

by Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi &amp; Others)

Chapter Eight.

TEN YEARS PREVIOUSLY...

"Oh man, I'm starving!" Ranma declared as he balanced along the rail leading over the local canal, "I sure hope your Mom's got something whipped up for us after our two week training mission. Of course with us out of her way she's probably got everything under control with the restaurant and everything. Wish I could have talked her into coming along with us this time out, but you know how your Mom is about business..."

"I know, Poppa," piped a six year old miniature "Ucchan" who dutifully trotted along behind her father, easily balancing on the rail in perfect imitation of his near-infallible sense of balance, "Momma works real hard sometimes, I wish she didn't have to...I wanna play with her too when we go out into the country..."

"Your mother knows her business is the only thing supporting us right now," Ranma said softly, thinking with no small irony of his part in their financial situation, "Sometimes I wish I could do more to help out. Maybe if we opened a dojo and started taking in students that might do the trick. I've been spending a lot of time training with you, and you're turning into a first rate student, a real chip off the old Saotome block. Even Pop's impressed with the progress that you've been making."

"Poppa," little Sakura asked with a somewhat disquieted expression, "Why does Grampa live in a cage in the Zoo instead of with us? Is it because he likes it better living with all the other pandas?"

"Hah," Ranma smirked, "Good question. The answer is that he lost a bet with your Grandmother, and Mom ain't the type you say 'no' to when she's got her mind made up. Besides, Pop's basically a pretty lazy guy, and he's got a pretty cushy place lined up there with three meals a day, plenty of time to sleep, and lots of attention from the other lady Pandas. Over all I think the Zoo suits him just fine, and he's even helping out with their breeding efforts to restore the Panda population...at Mom's insistence, no less."

"Oh," Sakura replied, not really understanding but not wanting to come across sounding like a six year old who did not know all of the answers, especially the obscure parts that could only be understood by grown ups.

"Yessiree, Mom's been doing all right for herself these last few years, and she's pleased as punch at the way you're blossoming out, little Cherry," Ranma said as he flexed his arms and cupped his hands behind his head, "Pretty soon you'll be as tough as your Old Man, and you'll be whipping up okonomiyaki just as good as your Mom, and maybe one of these days you'll meet a lucky guy like me who'll get swept off his feet by you and be happy for the rest of his life. 'Course you still have to work a bit on your high jumps, but you'll get that down with a little more practice."

"I'll train harder, Poppa, you'll see!" Sakura promised with childish enthusiasm, only to have her enjoyment subside a bit as she thought about what her life would be like growing up in a restaurant doing nothing but practice martial arts and make okonomiyaki. For some reason that did not sound like as much fun as she would have thought it should have sounded, as if something important were missing from the picture...like a sparring partner who could be her near-equal and come around to fight with her all the time, just like her father had Uncle Ryoga. The both of them always seemed to be having great fun together, even if they wound up destroying or renovating a good sized chunk of the neighborhood, and Uncle Ryoga pretended to be angry about something or the other...

"Heh, I know you will, Kid," Ranma assured his daughter, "You're the best of the best, and you've got yourself a couple of great teachers..."

All at once the sound of an explosion rocked the air, nearly toppling the both of them off the rail and into the nearby canal. Sakura fought for her balance and lost, but her father neatly snagged her by her collar and caught his own weight with a desperate hand so that the two of them dangled by the rail listening to other explosions that shook the rail and threatened to topple them into the water.

"What the Hell?" Ranma exclaimed as he lifted his daughter up to where she could scramble onto his back and cling to him for support, "Somebody declare war or Japan or something?"

"It sounds like one of your fights, Poppa," Sakura noted as she settled into position.

"Somebody started a rumble without me?" Ranma snorted, "Can't have that! Hang on!"

With surpassing ease borne of long practice he hauled himself up over the rail, then stood with his daughter clinging firmly to his shirt as the both of them turned to look in the direction from whence the noise and explosions originated, only to mutually gape in astonishment at the sight of two huge forms battling it out together, both of them standing nearly as tall as Gojiro and looking-if anything-five times more destructive.

"Kami-sama..." Ranma breathlessly murmured.

"It looks just like a Giant Robot fighting a Monster, like on TV!" Sakura declared, being a little more mentally prepared to accept the concept as a reality than most adults.

"A giant monster fighting a giant robot?" Ranma blinked, then sighed, "Well...why not? This is Tokyo, and after all, I've seen weirder stuff than...THE RESTAURANT! UCCHAN!" he cried as he belatedly realized just where the two giant robots were fighting.

"MOMMA!" Sakura cried out as the realization entered her tiny mind that her other significant parent might get trampled underfoot by these two battling monsters.

At once they set off at a run, Ranma's powerful legs carrying the both of them forward at a speed that defied normal human comprehension. He was already leaping high onto the roof of the first building that stood in his way while Sakura held on for dear life, her tiny heart hammering with fear as the both of them came within sight of a partially collapsed structure that had-until that very morning-been their home and place of business!

"KAMISAMA-UCCHAN!" Ranma cried, his own heart beating like a hammer in his chest as he closed the gap and got nearer to the signs of wreckage, his fears momentarily overwhelming him as he thought of his wife and their infant child being crushed under the debris, his worst fears realized with the suddenness of an earthquake. No sooner did he trot to a halt and set his daughter down but he began to furiously dig his way out of the rubble, ordering Sakura to stay back as he lifted huge beams and wall sections that outweighed him by many times, his fear adding to his already formidable strength as he cleared a path through the wreckage in search of bodies and (hopefully) survivors.

To amazement and relief he found his wife and infant son still alive, protected under a beam that was being supported by Ukyo's combat spatula, which had somehow not buckled under the strain of the collapsed structure. Ukyo was sheltering little Tenma with her body but looked up with relief when she saw her husband lifting away the debris, and in typical wifely overreaction she cried, "WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU, YOU JACKASS? WE COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED WAITING FOR YOU TO SHOW UP!"

"Sorry," Ranma said, and promptly gathered the both of them into his arms as Sakura carefully picked her way through the debris in order to join them, rushing to embrace her mother just as soon as she realized that she was all right and her little brother was uninjured.

"Kami-sama..." Ranma breathed, "I thought I'd lost the both of you..."

"No such luck, Mister," Ukyo sad as she hugged back with one arm, carefully cradling Tenma in the other, "You'll have to put off your womanizing for another day. Now...what the hell happened, and who knocked over OUR RESTAURANT?"

"I dunno," Ranma said as he gathered his wife into his arms with his son looking round-eyed on her lap, "A couple of Monsters were duking it out when I got here..."

Ukyo seemed to be in a mild state of shock as she took in the amount of destruction, then declared, "Our home! Who's gonna pay for all this?"

"The Insurance guys, mostly," Ranma replied, his expression turning hard and grim as he added, "Kami knows you pay them enough...but as for the two guys who started this...they're gonna pay in spades, I promise!"

"Better get in line, Mister," Ukyo growled, "I'm gonna give 'em a piece of my mind for doing this to OUR house!"

"No," Ranma said firmly as he set Ukyo down on the curb, well outside the range of destruction so far visited on the city block itself, "You stay here and watch the kids. This is one fight that goes to me, and you'd better say a prayer for whoever started this, 'Cause I'm gonna finish it right now!"

"Go get 'em, Poppa!" Sakura cheered as her father took off with a flying leap and headed in the direction of the renewed sounds of further fighting.

Given the size of the two combatants-and the extent of the devastation so far wrought by their continuing battle-it was not hard to track them down to the combat zone proper, though Ranma did experience a mild sense of disorientation considering the massive proportions of the combatants and a curious tension in the air that registered against his nape and arm hairs. Another time he might have shrugged the whole thing off and left it to the authorities to deal with this sort of problem, but he was angry and still afraid from having come so near to losing half of his close-knit family, and that gave him focus so that he was prepared to ignore any threat to his personal safety in order to obtain satisfaction for his sense of personal outrage.

Besides, he was far from the only victim of this struggle, and more than a few houses looked as though they had seen better days, which meant that the toll of injuries and possible deaths could not be adequately reckoned in a casual sweep of the place. A lot of people were having a "Very Bad Day," and it was up to him to give a reckoning for this fiasco. That was why he shrugged off any qualms and misgivings that he might have about being "Only a Martial Artist" in the face of a clash between two titans.

Besides which, his well-honed combat senses warned him that one of the two parties was getting the worst of the fight handed to him. The robot had taken a few good shots to the Monster's body, but his best efforts seemed to be shrugged off as though they never happened. He could make out the massive levels of Chi that both were pouring out...almost FIRE ALARM levels of raw energy that sizzled the air and made them both seem as if they were engulfed in flames that did not consume either great beast.

Unfortunately the giant robot was starting to slow down, and it was a little too shy of erecting its defenses in time as a giant tail lashed out to smash it like a club, and then the robot toppled over, crushing a major office building under its huge mass. When the massive hulk came to a final rest it did not move or get back up again, and the light within its eyes started to fade, which meant that it was effectively out of the battle. The left it vulnerable to further attacks by the triumphant monster.

What happened next even Ranma could not truly explain, save that he did what he did on impulse, having many times known what it was like to be at wits end in a battle. Without stopping to think about it he rushed to the side of the fallen robot, not even hesitating when he leaped onto its armored frame and stood over its inert mass, looking desperately for the hatch that he thought should be there leading to whatever command capsule was used by the pilot. How he knew that there would even be a pilot he could not have said if his life depended on it, only that he somehow knew that the robot did not control its own actions, that it had to have a human component, and-at the moment-that human was in need of a rescue. The rapid approach of the monster made the situation even more desperate, so in frustration he cried out, "WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU? YOU'VE GOT TO GET OUT OF THERE RIGHT NOW!"

And then a truly strange thing happened...a figure emerged from the faceplate of the robot, literally seeming to flow up out of it mass to stand-however limply-atop the fallen robot staring at Ranma with a look of dull incomprehension while clutching one arm, which was dangling uselessly at her side.

"Who...are you...?" she asked, a tall and very willowy redhead in black and gold armor, her long hair hanging down her back while her bearings seemed to mark her as a warrior of some sort...though the pointed ears and overly large eyes made her appear to be somehow...alien...though still remarkably quite human.

"Are you all right?" Ranma impulsively asked her.

"I...function...barely," the redhead gritted through clenched teeth, though it was plain enough that the only thing holding her upright was her own raw determination.

The Monster was not rushing things as it approached them, taking its time as though to make sure that its foe was indeed truly defeated. The looming menace prepared to crush the insignificant insects who stood over the defective corpse of a defeated Iczer Robo. The redhead noted this with a strange sort of calm but spoke to Ranma instead of the Monster, "You...must leave here...or it will...kill you..."

Those words decided the matter as far as Ranma was concerned. The redheaded woman was concerned for his welfare, therefore she could not truly be his enemy, nor could she be responsible for his restaurant being destroyed, which meant that the other guy was the one to blame for almost killing his Ucchan.

His fists started to glow as the rage gave way to something more powerful inside him, the fury of the DRAGON that burned within the Saotome breast. The Dragons of Outrage and the Tigers of Vengeance, as Cologne would have called them, were the two aspects to Ranma's warrior nature, and both were in complete agreement that the one who did this thing would have to PAY! Whoever or whatever this creature was, it was going DOWN, and in no gentle way! He gathered up the strength of his pride and his spirit, calling up a ball of raw Chi energy that sucked in the power from the surrounding environment and formed into a spiritual bomb that he prepared to unleash upon the Monster that dared to think of him as some insignificant insect!

The redhead's eyes went wide as this "normal human" drew raw power from the near-corpse of her Iczer Theta unit, and then all at once the man cried out, "MAKO TAKABISHI!"

The burst of raw energy that flowed from his hands nearly toppled her over as Iczer Two stared incredulously at the ball of energy that lanced out and struck the monster full on the chest, EXPLODING INWARD like a shaped charge that punched through energy fields and armored defenses as though they hardly existed, unleashing the full fury of the blast INSIDE the monster, with devastating results!

Her enemy cried out and fell heavily to the ground, creating one final crater as its burning corpse caught fire from within. Like that its hideous life was snuffed out as the fires of Chi consumed it from within, leaving hardly more than a trace of ash to mark its passage a few minutes later. It was the most amazing sight she had ever directly witnesses, and...to think that it had been done by a mere human...a MAN no less! Unthinkable...impossible...but undeniably real!

The man turned from a grimly satisfied examination of his own handiwork to turn a concerned look her way once again, and once more he asked the question, "Are you all right?"

Iczer Two was unable to give an answer to that question, for she had exhausted the last of her reserves and lost consciousness mere nanoseconds later...

She awoke a short time later hearing voices speaking to her, and some concerned murmuring heard in the background. Words like, "She needs a doctor," contrasted with more masculine tones responding, "Oh come on, Ucchan...look at her! You think any normal Doc's gonna know what to do with her in her condition?"

"Well...where are we going to put her, though?" the woman's voice said more practically, "The Restaurant's been totaled! There are military guys all over the place and someone's bound to be asking all kinds of questions!"

"I ain't arguing with all that," Ranma said, "I just don't think we can leave her here. She's badly hurt and needs some kind of attention. Unfortunately the only people I can think of right now are Doctor Tofu and the Old Ghoul."

"Well, what about that big robot thing of hers?"

"I dunno...it just up and vanished right after the battle, like it'd been recalled by the manufacturer, or something. C'mon, Ucchan, we can't stand around here...we gotta take her someplace to get her patched up..."

"Oh...all right," the woman said grudgingly, "Why is it I can never seem to say no to you?"

"Because I'm irresistible, of course," the man said with obvious smugness, "But you know I'm right...and we have to do this."

"All right then," Ukyo sighed, "The Cat Caf 's the nearest place, so you take her there while I go with Tenma to visit Tofu. Sakura-chan, you stay with your father and do what he says, you got that, Sugar?"

"Yes Momma," came the obedient tones of a much younger female, leaving Iczer Two with the distinct impression that she had been attended to by a human family unit.

That brought forward a new realization...she was being held in someone's arms...in the arms OF A MAN? Unthinkable! Her very nature protested against this! Unfortunately her body did not seem to be obeying signals from her brain stem at the moment, which meant her internal damage was far more severe than she had realized, and there was only so much her internal repair centers could do to replace her damaged components. The only sensible course for her to take was to return to an inactive state and allow her body to effect repairs without conscious interference, and so she slumped back into unconsciousness and lost all sensation of her immediate environs, though-odd to say-she did feel somehow...comforted...as though she were in the arms of a loving parent...

A young Sayoko Kai was humming a merry tune as she headed off from school to her place of business. Being all of fourteen and cheerful by nature, she had not allowed herself to be deterred by the talk of some kind of Monster Fight in the city, reckoning that such things only tended to happen to other people.

She was somewhat disconcerted, however, when she got to the Furinkan Financial district and saw the actual damage that had partially destroyed her favorite okonomiyaki restaurant. The fact that it was partially destroyed did not particularly faze her, though...the place tended to get wrecked on occasions with a regularity that made it seem like just another day in the neighborhood. All it meant to her was that she would have to change her regularly scheduled lunch plans.

Too bad, she had been in the mood to sample some okonomiyaki, but Ramen noodles would do just as good. Besides, she was interested in seeing if that new Waitress position was still open...nothing wrong with earning a little side-  
money to buy herself a new walkman without having to hit her Mom up for an increase in her allowance.

As she got near to her second-favorite eatery, however, a very strange thing began to happen. She felt an odd chill pass through her...and then a warming presence started to fill her very being. It was the oddest thing she had ever experienced, and the feeling got stronger the nearer she got to the restaurant. In fact, the moment she walked in through the front door the feeling became so strong that it made her forget all about her appetite as a kind...tugging sensation...drew her on towards the stairs which lead to the second floor, a place she had never before had the nerve to visit.

Cautiously creeping up the stairs she began to hear voices, one of them an old and gravelly toned matron who was-at that very moment-saying, "...You were wise to bring her here...former Son-in-law. She is not from this world and clearly would be at a disadvantage if treated to regular medicine. Fortunately there is something I may be able to do for this one as I believe that she is of a race known to the Amazons by legend."

"Why am I not surprised?" a woman's voice asked dryly, "You Amazons make it sound like you know more about history than anybody else on the planet..."

"We do know more about history," the leathery voice responded, "And I have lived a good deal of it myself, but the legend to which I am referring predates the Amazon tribes by a distant measure. In fact, it goes well beyond the point of recorded history into our furthest legends of an antique star-faring people said to be our ultimate ancestors."

"You telling us that she's got something to do with an old legend?" a male voice asked incredulously.

"I do indeed," the well weathered voice said in reply, "According to the legend, our ancestors came from the sky and founded a tribe upon the earth that became the first Amazon civilization. They were said to have dwelled among the Gods in a time of the world's innocence, coming from a race of all-female Gods who reproduced themselves without the need for a man. Over time they found it necessary to breed with the men of the Earth, but they set down laws to insure that their survivors would be strong and hardy, insisting that only the best of men could father Amazon children. This was many thousands of years ago, and the details are lost to the ages, but...I believe that our ancestors may indeed hail from the same place as this woman. Indeed, her likeness was engraved on one of our earliest treasures, which has been kept in trust by me and my family down through the ages."

"But I thought the Amazon High Council kicked you out of the tribe years ago," the voice of the younger woman replied, "Are you saying that they allowed you to keep your treasures?"

"They are family heirlooms," Cologne replied, "And I keep them with me at all times as some are magical amulets that have strange properties that would be too dangerous to permit them to remain at large in hands that might abuse them."

"You mean like that Reverse Jewel thingie?" the man asked in tones that conveyed the impression of a wince, "Yeah...I can see that'd be a problem..."

"So...are you saying that your people might be descended from aliens with advanced technology, and this red-haired chick might be one of them?"

"It is a definite possibility," Cologne replied, "And it does bear closer investigation."

Red haired? Sayoko found herself compelled to move forward, easing her way up towards the room from which the voices originated, only to have the door slide to one side as a shrunken mummy of an old woman stared up at her with an owlish expression.

"Can I help you in some way, young lady?"

"Ah..." Sayoko hesitated, only to look past the withered troll as her eyes fixed like a magnet on a body laying flat upon a futon...a pale face with arching cheekbones and pointed ears framed by a shock of luxurious red hair causing her to start slightly. Without intending to be rude, Sayoko ease her way past the old woman, ignoring the two adults and young child who were eyeing her with curious expressions. Sayoko's eyes were purely focused upon the redhead, and with a strengthening of that peculiar sensation within her she knelt down beside the futon and studied the beautiful face as though in a trance of some kind. The face was so beautiful to her eyes that it almost hurt to look on her, and yet...also somehow so very familiar.

And then the redhead stirred, murmuring softly as eyelashes fluttered open and a pair of ruby eyes started to study the ceiling in mild disorientation. A moment later those eyes shifted towards Sayoko, and then an incredulous voice softly exclaimed, "You...?"

"That's...what I was just about to say..." Sayoko said in amazement, "It's...you! I...I remember you...from someplace...long ago..."

"You..." the redhead stared in amazement, "You...were just a child...how can you remember...?"

Impulsively Sayoko reached out a hand and sought out the arm of the redheaded woman underneath her covers. Sayoko's eyes widened slightly as she discovered that the woman was naked under her covers, but with a few fumbling efforts she managed to uncover a hand, and then she squeezed it ever-so-lightly. The two of them locked stares, and in that moment recognition flowed between them, and nothing would ever be the same for either one of them ever again. Sayoko knew this with the whole of her being, and yet she smiled in delightful wonder, fully reconciled to the thought that she had just discovered the other half of her soul, a part she never even knew had been missing.

Amazement clashed with memories that awoke shame and dismay in the fallen Iczer, and yet Iczer Two could not turn away from those eyes that magnetically captured her heart and filled her being with a warmth that had never been there before. All at once her life seemed strange and new, and nothing would ever be the same...that she knew and accepted with the whole of her being. Her life as before had ended...a new life opened up to her as a part of her self became awake for the very first time in her existence...

Memories flowed as times passage became a mere ripple. Iczer Two remembered standing in a newly rebuilt restaurant watching as the man to whom she owed her very life surveyed the newly attached dojo with obvious approval. He then turned to his lady wife and said, "It's perfect!"

"It ought to be," Ukyo replied, "Considering what it cost. Good thing those Insurance guys were willing to make a big settlement to get me off their backs, now we're almost ready for business again, once we restock the ingredients and post 'Grand Reopening' signs out in front."

"I am...sorry for all your troubles," Iczer Two remarked, glancing down at the arm that was still slung in a sling-harness and finding it strange to be wearing something besides her usual armor.

"Aw, don't sweat it," her new (MALE) friend replied, "You were fighting for your life against that Monster. Ain't like I can hold that against you, especially since it happens to me all the time."

"Besides which, you creamed the guy who really was to blame," Ukyo smiled affectionately towards her husband, adding a sour note at the end as she groused, "Too bad I couldn't at least get a few whacks in myself...I'd have liked to personally punch out the lights of whoever was behind that Monster."

"That would have been...something to see," Iczer Two admitted, unable to help smiling as she contemplated the woman warrior, who was presently her VERY charming hostess, and definitely not one to be underestimated despite her being a "mere" human.

"Guess you'll be going back to your people now that you've started to recover your strength, huh?" Ranma asked of Iczer Two.

"I...was considering it," Iczer Two remarked, all too aware of the eyes of Sayoko upon her, "But...I thought perhaps...since the war ended while I was...convalescing...that I might stay with you for a few more days, if that would not be too much trouble."

"Hey, we're glad to have you around," Ukyo smiled, "But won't your people be worried and come looking for you?"

"That might happen...eventually," Iczer Two said, turning to study the face of Sayoko, "But there are...things of interest to me here...and I suppose a few days living among you would prove most...enlightening."

"I'm glad!" Sayoko sighed with relief before glomping onto Iczer Two's good arm with undisguised affection, "I'd love to come visit your place with you sometime, but Mom thinks I'm neglecting my school work and hardly even lets me get out of the house anymore. When you do go back will you come and pay me a visit?"

"You would have difficulty ridding yourself of me," Iczer Two replied with unusual affection in her voice, "But...you should respect your parents...and not neglect your studies."

"Yeah, whatever," Sayoko replied, resting her head against the taller Iczer's shoulder.

In truth Iczer Two was more indebted to Sayoko than even the child could truly know, having bonded with her through the process of synchronization. As such, their link had triggered many biochemical changes within the star-faring warrior and given her more of a sense of what it truly meant to be...human. Synchronization levels were at only thirty-two percent so far and already the process of healing had been greatly accelerated within the flame-haired Iczer, lending her a strength such as she had never known before and leaving her feeling twice as powerful as she had been prior to their meeting.

That thought spurred her to ask the next question of her MALE benefactor, "Lord Saotome..."

"Just Ranma will do," the jaunty male said with typical ease and good nature.

"I am...most impressed with you and the way you performed in that battle," Iczer Two began to explain, "I was...wondering if you might be at all interested in...explaining the process by which a mere human gains the power to destroy an enemy that toppled my Iczer Robo."

"Oh, you mean my Mako Takabishi?" Ranma smiled, "Ain't nothing too special about that. It's just a technique the old woman showed me a long time ago that concentrates my energy into a single attack, and I was pretty worked up about that monster destroying our restaurant."

"Ah...yes..." Iczer Two winced slightly, unable to escape the suspicion that the damages to the restaurant were her doing, as judged by the nature of the footprint that had been found near to the wreckage, "But I was wondering...how exactly do you intensify it that way? I sensed that you were using emotion to bolster your power levels..."

"Sugar," Ukyo explained, "The Mako Takabishi works on confidence and a strong ego, and that's something my husband here's got in spades. Ranchan just has to think of himself as powerful and invincible and it puts the other guy at a direct ego disadvantage."

"Ego Disadvantage?" Iczer Two raised a crimson eyebrow.

"Yeah," Ranma replied, "According to the old woman, all things have an Ego, or a sense of self-integrity, that makes 'em harder to destroy than just a bunch of dead matter. When a martial artist breaks a brick or a board he overcomes the ego integrity of that brick and board. It's kind of like...the board has its own ideas about itself...like it knows it's stronger than flesh and blood because Wood's got a natural resilience, just like stone thinks of itself as hard and solid. What you gotta do is think of yourself as harder and stronger than either one of these things, and then you convince yourself that's the case and focus your Chi into your strikes so that you Ego beats out the Ego of the thing you're punching..."

"Your ego overwhelms the ego of the thing you face," Iczer Two murmured with a strange fascination, "I...think I understand...a little. Will you teach this to me?"

"You...want to learn from me?" Ranma repeated with an incredulous.

"I am...prepared to compensate you for your troubles," Iczer Two said earnestly, "But I must know...I must learn how it is that a man such as you can become so powerful. I want to become more powerful than I am now...strong enough to overcome my enemies...strong enough to protect my people from future attacks. I will do whatever you ask of me just so long as you give me the chance to learn your methods."

"Well..." Ranma ruffled the back of his head, "I dunno...it takes a long time to learn all about the Anything Goes system..."

"I think you will discover that I am a very quick study," Iczer Two could not help smiling as she said this, "Nor will you be disappointed in me as a student. My intentions are fully honorable, and I swear that I will never abuse your methods."

"Well," Ranma glanced at his wife, who smiled back, so he said, "I guess it wouldn't hurt to take you on...and I could use the practice. I've never been a real Sensei before, except with little Sakura here, but I'll need to learn if I'm gonna be doing this to earn a living."

"I thank you," Iczer Two half-bowed, then paused as she considered the girl clinging to her arm, then added, "And one other thing...I would like for Sayoko to also receive your training. Would there be any objections to her joining us in classes?"

"Well...she's not really a martial artist, but...I suppose I could teach her a few things," Ranma said, "How about it, Kid? You game to learn something more useful than what they teach you in regular school?"

"You mean...me...study Anything Goes Martial arts?" Sayoko was incredulous, but then grinned broadly and added, "Cool! When do we start...?"

Memories blurred again, and then Iczer Two smiled fondly of the time when she had trained with Sayoko in the Musubetsu Kakuto Ryu, and how frustrated she had been to be thrown around by a "mere" human, and how she had grown to respect her new Sensei, and the pleasures of learning how to fight with her own two hands rather than rely upon pre-programmed routines that were inflexible and much too predictable for her liking. Days had grown to weeks and weeks gave way to a full three months before the C'thuwulf had discovered her whereabouts and dispatched her sisters in order to try and locate her.

Iczer Three had been successful in that regard, coming upon the sight of Iczer Two training with Sayoko in some complicated katas, lightly sparring against each other as Iczer Two "took it easy" with her more human counterpart, the both of them relishing the chance to spend any time together as their synchronization levels continued to rise ever higher.

It had been a surprising day for the Saotome clan when a short, silver-haired armored ragamuffin came upon them in the dojo, staring with large rounded eyes at the sight of her older sister dancing about the wooden floor with a human partner. She signaled Iczer One and soon the three of them were united, Iczer One and Three both marveling at the change that had come over their fierce warrior sibling, who greeted the both of them with such affection that it took them both aback and made them wonder if she had been replaced with a more human doppelganger...

"Those were good times," Iczer Two said aloud as the memories began to fade back into the background.

"They were indeed," Sayoko agreed, "But we've had lots of good times ever since."

"Indeed we have," Iczer Two remarked, the visual image of a naked Sayoko appearing in her equally naked arms as the two of them shared simulation together, "All the more special because they brought the two of us together."

"You'd have found me eventually on your own," Sayoko noted as she snuggled up into the virtual arms of her beloved partner, "After all...I was fated to be your partner."

"You were indeed, and no other," Iczer Two replied as she held the other woman as tightly as was prudent with a human, "If only Troi could know the joy that you always bring me..."

"She will...one of these days," Sayoko replied, "After all...we had to wait until I was almost fifteen before we found each other, and who would have guess it considering how our first meeting turned out?"

"The Venomoids knew, I suspect," Iczer Two replied, "They seemed to know that there was something special about you even when you were all of five and an orphan. I am glad that the past changed so that you never suffered the loss of your mother..."

"Yeah, well, she doesn't exactly approve of me picking you for her 'Son in Law,' but you're right...I'm still glad to have my mother be a part of the present picture."

"As am I," Iczer Two sighed in bliss, "Still and all...it has been close to ten years since I last saw my Sensei. I wonder how he and his wife are faring these days?"

"Probably out raising hell with those cute kids of theirs," Sayoko remarked, "I'll bet little Sakura's a real heart stopper these days..."

"Just like her mother," Iczer Two mused simply, "Of course my sisters always thought it odd that I should take lessons in fighting from a 'mere' human."

"Well, us 'mere' humans shouldn't be underestimated," Sayoko said slyly, reaching out with a hand and cupping one bared breast of her partner to fondle her synthetic nerve endings.

"Oh yes indeed," Iczer Two smiled in approval, enjoying the tactical sensation as though it truly were being done to her real body, "You humans are full of all sorts of interesting surprises, aren't you?"

"Count on it," Sayoko smiled as she turned her head up and kissed her partner on her virtual mouth, even as her virtual hand began stroking its way down a virtual tummy in search of some virtual loins to play with, not that there was anything "virtual" as their love-play became more earnest...

THE PRESENT-FURINKAN FINANCIAL DISTRAICT

"...And that's how I wound up tutoring her big sister," Ranma concluded to the astonished teenagers, "Which I was more than glad to do, especially since I got to play cupid with her and Sayoko."

"Oh yeah," Sakura blinked her eyes, "Now I remember this...ten years? Geez...I was hardly even six, it feels so ancient!"

"Not that ancient, Cute Stuff," Troi remarked, "Of course it does remind me of what a little squirt I was back then, hardly even up to your chin, Rhea-chan," she added as she affectionately ruffled the hair of the younger Iczer.

"I can't believe you guys knew each other that long ago," Muku said, "How come none of us remember it? Guys? Any hints here?"

"Well," Ken scratched the side of his head and thought a moment, "That is...sort of odd...I remember something happening in this neighborhood around ten years back, but...I can't seem to call up too many details..."

"Neither can I," replied Perm, "And I find that lack...very disturbing..."

"Ten years ago," Yui frowned, "What could have made us all forget about that?"

"I don't know," Yumi mused, "But we were living in Jubaan at the time, and that's far enough way that we might have forgotten all about it..."

"Forgotten about what?" a new voice asked, causing Rhea to start as she turned to see a new face in the restaurant.

"It's nothing, Tenma-chan," Ukyo said to a boy who looked to be around eleven years of age or so, who had just come into the restaurant dressed in a school uniform and carrying a bag of books over one shoulder, "Just us old timers having a little reminiscence about the old days..."

"Hey!" the boy brightened up as he caught sight of Troi and Rhea, "Who are these guys? Are you the one who owns that motorcycle outside?"

"Sure thing, Kid," Troi grinned, "That's my little Harley."

"Cool!" the boy tossed his bookbag on the counter and said, "Hey Pop, are we gonna work out today? You said when you were done with classes you'd show me how to do the Splitting Cat-Hairs maneuver."

"Yeah, I did, didn't I?" Ranma beamed at his son, then included Sakura in his affable expression, "Why don't you and your sister change into your gis and we'll work out a little...if that's all right with your mother."

"All right, you three," Ukyo said with mock sternness, "Just as long as you clean up before dinner time and make sure to do your homework."

"Yes Mom," both older and younger sibling said together, exchanging glances before the boy turned his attention back towards Troi and added, "Are you here to work out? I'd love to see what you can do, lady..."

"I'll just bet you would," Troi said with an affectionate smile, "But it's getting kind of late, and I was supposed to take Rhea-chan back to see her parents..."

"Do we have to leave now, Auntie?" Rhea asked, "I...like it here..."

"Hey, you're welcome to come visit at any time," Ranma said, "If you really are Two's niece, then I'd love to see how much she's taught you. I understand you faced down the Kunos and cleaned up the deck with the both of them, which sounds about right and even counts as a tradition with us Saotome...no offense meant to you, kid."

"None taken, Uncle," Perm responded.

"You mean...work out...or give a live demonstration?" Ken wondered.

"Why not?" Yumi grinned, "I'd love to see how good she really is, and I'll bet she's already shown Muku-chan some moves to remember."

"Guys," Muku winced, in spite of the fact that her own curiosity was piqued at the thought of seeing Rhea demonstrate her full potential.

"I would like that very much," Rhea replied, pausing to glance down at her armor before saying, "But I...do not currently own a practice gi..."

"Oh, no problem," Ukyo said, "We'll loan you one of Sakura's spare outfits. What do you say to that one, Sugar?"

"Mother!" Sakura sounded shocked at having her own property be "volunteered" in such a casual manner.

"Well," Troi smiled, "I guess it wouldn't hurt to hang around a little longer...and it's been a while since I've seen the insides of your dojo. Tell you what...got a spare suit for me? I've picked up a few new moves of my own in my travels."

"It's settled then," Ranma smiled, "Everyone get suited up, class begins in about fifteen minutes."

"Wonderful!" Rhea beamed happily, turning again those adoring eyes towards Muku, who found herself inadvertently swallowing under their full impact, "Thank you, Auntie!"

"Hey, what can I say?" Troi smirked, "I never could say no to you, little Niece. Guess when you come right down to it, I'm easy..."

"I'll just bet you are," Yui mused with a wary expression, earning a curious look from the Iczer in question, though Troi seemed to take it in good stride, deciding to size up this dark haired girl for closer scrutiny...later...

Muku wondered what it was about the very thought of seeing Rhea in something other than armor was causing her to feel...funny about it, but there was no denying that her curiosity had been piqued. She was about to learn even more about her new companion and what the other girl could do, which might help her further unravel the mystery about why this girl felt so oddly...familiar...and at any rate she needed a good workout. Her encounter with the Kunos had been much too brief for her liking, even taking into account the fact that it was Rhea who had done the actual fighting. There was more than pride behind her desire to work out, and until she knew for certain just what this strange feeling was that existed between herself and the other girl, she could know no true rest. She had to find out for herself just what this Rhea was made of.

Not in a literal sense, she sincerely hoped, though there was that **other** strange sensation which came over her as she contemplated Yumi's teasing innuendo. Just being around Rhea was making Muku feel very...odd in ways for which she had no rational explanation. She only knew that she was glad that the fiery gold haired living enigma would be hanging around for another hour or so...she had to know just why this girl was affecting her so, and what-if anything-Muku could do about it.

The answer had to lie with whatever strange place it was that Rhea called her home...a place that this older version of herself with the silver hair also called her "home base." The mystery of these "C'thuwulf" and their curious links to the Amazons gave further legitimacy to her quest for knowledge. No doubt when she knew the right questions to ask she would comprehend the answers...she just had to be patient and let things unfold as they would on their own. If only she did not have this nagging sense that she was missing something very obvious that was out in the open...

Or perhaps something that had been forgotten? Either way, this day was turning out to be a time of curious revelations, and yet the more she found out the more mystified she became concerning Rhea Kano and Muku's own true feelings concerning the other girl. She just hoped that-by the time she figured it all out-it would not prove too late as she sensed that a point of no return was approaching rapidly, and with no idea of how to deviate from the path that she was taking. Events seemed to be gathering a life of their own, but for good or ill no one-as yet-could truly answer.

The answer lay with Rhea...and for now Muku could only sigh and hope to somehow survive the maelstrom that was certain to follow, feeling oddly comforted by the sense that Rhea would stand beside her...and dreading to know if that truly meant what it sounded like, or even if it were too late for her as something had already been yielded, and with nothing to do but to wait...and hope that they would have a future...one way or the other...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Flashbacks Unlimited: shadowmane

Things continue to heat up in Nerima as Muku and Rhea attend their first joint classes together, and the enemy decides to spring its own surprise party in, "The Sword and the Spatula," or "Quoth the Iczer: Nevermore!" Be There!

X -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	9. Chapter 9

Earthchild09

The Earthchild

(An Iczer/Ranma Crossover)

by Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi &amp; Others)

Chapter Nine.

"Rise and shine, sleepy-head, did you have a nice nap?"

"Oh yeah!" Sayoko stretched and yawned, looking as fresh as a newborn flower, "Catching nine winks in the regenerator always leaves me feeling fit, trim and ready to take on the whole world. Did I miss anything when I was out?"

"Nothing too significant," Iczer One replied, giving her redheaded counterpart a wry glance as she added, "And did you sleep as well, my Sister?"

"Sleep?" Iczer Two replied with a very strange grin on her mouth, and her hair seemed somewhat more tousled than usual, as if she had just tried to tangle with a cement mixer.

"Never mind," Nagisa sniffed, unable to help grinning at the expense of the normally dour Iczer, "You guys can brag about your date some other time. Right now we need to pool our heads together and try to figure out what's behind these attacks by the Venomoids and whatever."

"You have a valid point, Nagisa-san," Iczer-Two relented, but try as she might she could not seem to remain sober for two minutes as she was positively glowing with energy, just as her partner had that unmistakable "cat who ate the canary" look about her, "We do need to determine if the strength of our enemies is sufficient to pose us a real threat. The discovery of this Iczer-type unit who calls herself Nova, and her counter part Iczer Robo, the one she named Omega..."

"Yes," Iczer One agreed, "All very strange and very disturbing. I confess that the idea of another one of us going rogue is more unsettling than just the thought of Venomoid attacks crossing into our world from someplace else..."

"Not to mention the fact that this Nova claims that you are at least one of her parents," Nagisa further pointed out with her own look of disquiet.

"Yeah, what's the deal about that anyway?" Sayoko eyed her partner with suspicion, "You haven't been fooling around behind my back, have you?"

"What?" Iczer Two blinked, "No way...I mean...I would never do that to you, Sayoko-chan...you are my reason for living, my heart, my soul and my partner..."

"Don't think you can sweet talk your way out of this," Sayoko frowned, "I wanna know if this Nova chick comes from some other place where you might have fooled around, like...in another dimension..."

"That is a possibility," Iczer One remarked, "Another world, another reality, possibly a whole new continuity where things happened differently than on our world, and if you never met Sayoko on that timeline, then it's possible that a part of your DNA was used to create your virtual daughter."

"Eh?" Iczer Two exclaimed, but then she thought about it and said, "It...is possible...if we are dealing with a different reality, one where, perhaps, the Venomoids were triumphant and Big Gold...she whom I once called Mother...survived to create new terrors..."

"Hah!" Sayoko snorted, "I knew it!"

"Now that's a scary thought," Nagisa winced, "If that had happened then it would have to mean..."

"That I failed in my mission on that timeline and no doubt was eliminated," Iczer One said grimly, "Big Gold would then be free to manufacture new terrors and might even have the power to spread her evil to other worlds, just as Neos tried to do, and the Grey twins beyond that..."

"If this is true, then we face far worse terrors than even we could imagine," Iczer Two grimly averred, "Even I cannot comprehend the depths of depravity to which Gold might go to extend her reach into this world. She might have nearly unlimited resources to draw upon, in which case we could be fighting an entire world and not just a few random opponents."

"Then why haven't they attacked us in force?" Sayoko wondered.

"Possibly they can't...or maybe they do have limits to as how much force they can project into our world at the present time," Nagisa suggested, "Or perhaps they've only just begun to test our defenses so that they can determine how much of an offensive force would be truly needed."

"Yet another disturbing prospect," Iczer One grimly summarized when Force Commander Sepia spoke up and said, "Protector! We have a new reading!"

"Say what?" Nagisa whirled around, "Another attack...already?"

"It's coming from Grid Epsilon, sector Nine-dash-two," Cobalt reported as she too intruded on the meeting of the Iczers, "Situated in the Nerima Prefecture."

"Nerima?" Iczer Two spoke up with alarm.

"But that's where..." Iczer One started to say when Nagisa finished for her, "Troi went to find Rhea..."

"In Nerima Prefecture?" Sayoko blinked, "But that would mean..."

"That they're after our Niece...I mean...Sister, your daughter, my student," Iczer Two said grimly, "No doubt they are attempting to eliminate her before she can fully synchronize with her new partner."

"How strong is the reading this time?" Iczer One asked of the monitor attendants.

"Strong...very strong, Protector!" reported Sister Magenta, "We're detecting Iczer Robo level force..."

"Nova," Iczer Two said grimly, "It has to be her...or someone very like her in any event. Either way, Rhea-chan and Troi won't be able to resist her without their Iczer Robos."

"Iczer Robos Alpha and Theta are standing by and ready to receive you, Commander," Sister Saffron reported, "Iczer Delta is still in its cradle but...Protector! Gamma-Theta has auto-launched and has merged into Subspace!"

"WHAT?" Iczer One said with alarm.

"But that's Rhea-chan's unit!" Nagisa declared.

"She summoned her Iczer?" Sayoko blinked her eyes, "But that mean..."

"Indeed," Iczer Two replied, completely sober now and once more the grim and dour fighting unit that she had been created to be, "It means that she has taken her partner into her Robo...but can this Muku Dori be ready for such an experience?"

"Are you kidding?" Nagisa said, "I remember what it was like my first time and...we've got to get to our Robos right now! Rhea-chan will need our help!"

"Right," her fellow warriors replied when all at once another monitor called out in alarm to divert their attention.

"Commander-Protector!" sister Chartreuse reported, "There are two more energy readings signifying crossover events...and they're both opening up right next to our location!"

"Confirm that," Saffron remarked, "Iczer Robo-type energies are located at grid Alpha-one-oh-seven! Two of them, both measuring enormous energy levels..."

"A second attack wave?" Iczer-Two reacted, confirming her fears with a glance to her sister.

"This time they're not just probing our defenses," Iczer One agreed, "They're launching a major assault. It seems that we will have to concentrate our efforts at home and hope for the best with Rhea-chan and our sister."

"Oh lovely," Sayoko growled, "This day just keeps getting better and better..."

"Rhea-chan," Nagisa winced, but then mastered her impulse and growled, "Whoever is behind this...Gold or whatever...if they harm one hair of our daughter's head, there will be retribution!"

"Count on it," Iczer One averred, exchanging another grim look with Iczer Two as the both of them nodded in full agreement.

"To our units!" Iczer Two called out, "And mobilize the Iczelion core! All defenses at full alert, this is not a drill this time, people!"

"You don't have to tell me twice," Sayoko averred, pausing only to add, "You really will use any excuse to get me naked, won't you?"

"As if I needed an excuse for that," Iczer Two replied, then all four of them vanished, teleporting at once to their respective fighting units...

FIFTEEN MINUTES BEFORE THIS HAPPENS:

Muku cried out and charged her opponent, launching a series of punches and kicks that were precisely controlled and devastatingly effective...or at least they would have been had it not been for the fact that her opponent flowed out of the way of her attacks as if anticipating them to the very second.

"You're slowing down today, Muku-chan," Sakura smiled, easily avoiding each attack while searching for an opening through which to mount a counter-  
offensive, "Don't tell me you're tiring out already?"

"Hah, you wish!" Muku grinned as she spun about and threw a kick that only missed its mark by centimeters, forcing Sakura to leap back and rebound with her feet against the nearest wall, pushing out as she somersaulted in the air to land behind Muku and from there throw her own series of kicks that immediately put the other girl on the defensive.

"Wow," Yumi remarked, "They sure are going all out today. You'd almost think that they were trying to impress somebody..."

"I wonder who that could be?" noted Yui with a glance at an enraptured Rhea.

"Aw, they're not too bad," Troi remarked, adding to herself (for humans, and that's taking into account who they've got for parents.) Then she, too, fetched an amused smirk as she saw the way Rhea was following every detail of the exchange, committing each facet to memory as though the friendly duel was a ballet being performed by champion prima donnas. In truth Troi suspected that her niece was less interested in the combat techniques than in other...facets of what she was seeing. There was a bright warmth glowing about Rhea's cheeks that made the younger girl seem almost giddy with delight as she watched her partner go all-out with her best friend in a no-nonsense, rough-and-tumble free sparring match in which both girls were pulling out all stops to try and out do one another.

The truth of the matter was that Troi herself found the lively athletics of both girls to be more than a little bit arousing. She was especially turned on by the auburn haired Sakura, who moved with precise control and a muted sense of barely contained power that leant her slender frame a vitality that Troi found incredibly appealing. How much like both of her parents this girl was...a real knock-off of the original mold, and entirely natural at everything she did. She was the kind of girl Troi would not have minded picking up for a date, especially to see what **other** sorts of athletic things the human girl could do with that near-perfect body!

Muku Dori herself was quite the study in grace and beauty, but as appealing as Troi found her, the effect she was having upon Rhea was a whole different level of physical and emotional arousal. It amused Troi in spite of a recurring jealous twinge over the matter, seeing how Synchronization was affecting her usually demure and overly shy niece. She recalled the way Rhea had acted when they were changing into their borrowed gis, and how breathless she was when contemplating a naked Muku Dori...

Rhea, meanwhile, was wondering if she were somehow malfunctioning or had acquired a latent toxin that had not been filtered out of her systems. How else to explain why she was having so much trouble breathing, or why he heart was beating so swiftly as she studied Muku's movements with an eye to more than just measuring her battle prowess? The sight of Muku was mesmerizing...and even more so as Rhea had snuck a peek at the other girl while the latter had been upstairs dressing. She did not know why she had felt such a strong compulsion to spy upon her own partner, only that she wanted to see Muku in the all together...to memorize once more ever facet of her anatomy in astonishing detail. She colored as she remembered the yelp she had almost given when her Aunt Troi surprised her in the midst of this peep-show, then flushed an even deeper hue as she recalled enduring the naughty innuendo and comments directed to her at a whisper by the older and far more raunchy Iczer.

"Don't feel bad, little one," Troi had softly chided, "It's perfectly natural that you should want to see what your partner looks like without any clothes on. Earth girls are certainly quite an eye-catching lot if you learn to appreciate their charms and understand just how to make them scream out your name on a bedside."

"Ahhh...hah?" Rhea had responded at her most intelligible level.

"Of course there's nothing wrong with dating our own people," Troi had continued, "But-C'thuwulf or human-it's pretty much the same. They have almost identical anatomies, after all, while we have a similar internal construction to our own makeup, all the better to help us bond with our partners."

Rhea had felt an urge to melt right through the floor as her ears burned from shame, embarrassment and (most notably) at her lust for her own partner, a condition hardly helped by the brazen comments of her far less inhibited elder. Even now she could feel the heat of her excitement casting aside any thoughts of prudence or propriety as she wondered what it would be like to be that...intimate...with her Muku-chan...

The battle between friends shifted into high gear as Sakura and Muku squared off to do more than merely exchange rapid fire kicks, punches and other conventional maneuvers, drawing on their internal chi levels to mount more powerful attacks and counter-defenses. One could see it in the way the currents of air shaped and flowed about their bodies, hardening and fortifying their limbs so that each blow had many times the force of a hammer, and each counter-thrust was like the parry of a sword stroke, and every punch that was deflected transferred the unspent force into waves that rolled out beyond the scope of their fight to be felt like strong vibrations to the watching observers, who sat along the sidelines.

"Oh!" Rhea remarked, surprised at the forces being harnessed by the two human warriors one of them her partner.

"Not too shabby," Troi remarked, lounging about in her borrowed outfit and making it seem as if she were still wearing leathers, "You've trained 'em pretty good, Boyo. Of course there's more to fighting than just being able to harness raw power. How good are they at doing mental and spiritual combat?"

"Oh, they're not too shabby on that level either," Ranma winked, "Don't judge them just by their martial arts ability. I learned a lot from your sister about fortifying the spirit so that your enemies can't touch you where it really counts, and I've tried to pass that along to my students."

"Well then, maybe you might like to show me a few moves," Troi smiled, then added coyly, "If it's all right with your wife, of course."

"You think I'd trust my husband around a man-trap like you?" Ukyo smiled back, "But why don't we let the kids show what they know, then you and me can go a few rounds together...how about that?"

"Cool!" Troi leered, "But what makes you think your hubby here can trust you around me?"

"That is...a good point," Ranma conceded with a reluctant smile, "You C'thuwulf do have your own ways of going about your business..."

"Hey, don't judge all C'thuwulf by my example," Troi smiled, "They kind of broke the mold when they made me, and I'm a one-of-a-kind Iczer. Of course my niece here is something special, and if you want to test her you can see that she's a one-of-a-kind hybrid."

"Fair enough," Ranma said, then called out, "That enough, you two! You're both warmed up enough from that little freespar, now let's see what our young guest here is made of."

"Me?" Rhea asked, then when she saw Troi nod her was she got to her feet and said, "I am ready."

"Just be sure and take it easy," Troi sub-vocalized in a note of caution cautioned, "You're dealing with humans, not Venoids, different rules apply here."

"I understand, Auntie," Rhea sub-vocalized , "I will be careful."

Muku and Sakura stood apart and bowed, then both turned their heads to examine the slender Rhea as she stepped into the middle of the practice floor. Muku was staring in wonder at the sight of the other girl, while Sakura was sizing her up as though trying to decide for herself whether to trust or even like the new arrival, murmuring at the last, "Okay...let's see what you've got, Goldie."

"Not you two," Ranma said, "You'll sit on the sidelines and watch while you catch your breath, but this warm-up round goes to Perm, if she's willing to test Rhea-san out."

"I would be more than honored, Noble Uncle," the purple haired girl said as she stood to her feet and then entered the practice area and took her place near the center.

"But..." Muku started to say.

"You'll both get your chance to spar with her in another moment," Ranma said, "But I want someone fresh who doesn't have a stake in things to help decide how good Two's disciple is, and whether she really does know the Anything Goes system."

"But I want a crack at her anyway when this is done, Dad," Sakura said as she and Muku retired to the sidelines, leaving Rhea and the purple haired Perm to square off together.

Perm bowed respectfully and said, "Though you defeated my brother and sister in battle, I bear you no ill will. If anything, you have my deepest respect, and so I will fight without restraint in honor of your formidable prowess."

"Thank you," Rhea replied, "I hope that we can both be friends. Muku-chan has much affection towards you, and I think you would be a worthy ally."

"Then that is my hope as well," Perm assumed a fighting crouch, "Shall we begin?"

"As you will," Rhea replied, falling into a defensive stance with fists raised in readiness, "Whenever you command, Sensei."

Ranma raised his hand and said, "Hajime!" and then the two combatants got started in earnest.

Rhea was cautious in approaching the other girl, but Perm launched an all-out attack, going from calm and focused to a leaping kick that almost took Rhea by surprise, save that she avoided it without almost thinking. Far from disconcerted by this, Perm twisted her body and reacted by bouncing off a wall and rebounding off the ceiling, kicking off and coming down like a shot with foot outstretched in order to catch Rhea from behind, knocking her sprawling.

Though surprised by the attack, and the unexpected agility of her opponent, Rhea again reacted without thinking, rolling to the side so that she did not get pinned between Perm's foot and the wooden flooring. She sprang to her feet and assumed a defensive crouch as Perm whirled upon her and lashed out with another kick, which Rhea deflected, only to find the other girl spun about in mid-air and used her other foot for a whip, which forced the Iczer to dart back in surprise, finding herself on the defensive.

"Wow, she's fast!" Yumi exclaimed.

"Yeah, but which one of them?" Ken asked, noticing how the girl named Rhea was actually holding her own but seemed to be holding back somehow, as if not fighting at her full potential.

Muku was noticing the same thing, somehow aware that Rhea was holding back and not going all out against Perm, who was more than fast and strong for one of her classmates, having the benefit of advanced Amazon training. Though Perm seemed to be on the offensive, in actuality she was having to work a lot harder to keep up than usual, and even against Sakura and Muku such frantic maneuvers were hardly called for. It was as if Perm herself knew that her opponent was only fighting at a fraction of her full strength, and yet the Amazon pride of the young Kuno would not permit her to use anything than her best in any fight with her. On the whole it truly was an amazing performance.

Of even more interest to Muku, however, was deciding just how much of her real strength this Rhea was holding back in reserve. Ducking and dodging the attacks of her purple-haired antagonist was just a way of gauging Perm's potential, and once the elvish girl had that much determined she was ready to mount a proper counter-offensive, going from defense to attack with a speed that left even Perm flat-footed. With a single blow to the solar plexus she drove Perm back away from her, staggering the other girl and taking some of the fight out of their battle. In two quick strokes with the edge of her hand she further humbled the other girl, staggering Perm back by several steps before the two of them separated to regain their bearings.

"You're good," Perm said as she recovered from the triple assault, "But you're holding far too much back, and by rights I should feel insulted."

"Not at all," Rhea said, "You're even better than your sister, but if I go all out you could be injured."

"Let me be the judge of how much I can take in a fight," Perm replied, "The only way to become truly strong is to go all out against a stronger opponent, and until that time it has always been Muku-chan or Sakura."

"Hey, what about me?" Yui spoke up, "Don't I count for something in this?"

"If I wanted to get lost somewhere with you, then I'd come to you for assistance," Perm smiled, "But you're not really my type, so...I'll have to take a pass on that."

"WHAT?" Yui half rose to her feet before Yumi put a hand on her arm to restrain her, "I don't have to take that from you! Let me in there and I'll show her what a fight really means, Sensei."

"You all seem so eager to pick on the new girl," Ranma sighed, giving a Troi a wry look before adding, "Your niece is really popular today. So...who do I pick next to spar with our newest guest?"

"I'll do it, Daddy," Sakura said as she stood back to her feet, "I've been wanting to see how good she really is ever since I saw her take down Gel and Godai."

"Go for it, Kid," Ranma said, turning to Perm, "If that's all right with you. I know you've got a lot more left, but I'd hate to have to be the one to explain those bruises you took to your mother..."

"Hmph," Perm half-smiled, "You may have a point about that, Uncle. I fear no man...nor whatever she is...but when it comes to my mother, only a fool dares trespass...or a man much more foolish than my siblings and father."

"All right then," Sakura declared as she moved out to the center of the dojo, "I'll be sure and leave enough for you to clean up afterwards, but if she's really that good, this ought to be an interesting match."

"For me as well," Rhea replied, "Muku considers you an equal, and that means that you are very special to her...and to me through her, Saotome-san."

"Eh?" Sakura frowned, "You talk like the two you have been best buddies for quite a while now...what else has she been telling you about me?"

"AH..." Muku winced, not liking at all what that sounded like!

"I'm sorry," Rhea replied, "I didn't mean to imply that Muku-chan's been...gossiping about you..."

"Save it!" Sakura raised her fists and glared at her new opponent, "I'll hear the truth after I beat it out of you. HAAAIII!"

"Hey, but I didn't-!" Ranma started to say when his daughter rushed forward to attack her new opponent, not even bothering going through the preliminaries before unleashing a hail of punches and kicks at a speed that went well beyond the normal definitions of "human."

"Better give it up, Pop," Tenma sighed, "Oniisama always picks her own times to fight, and this time she looks like she's spoiling for it worse than ever."

"Impulsive and headstrong," Ukyo sighed, "I wonder which side of the family she gets that from?"

"Maybe the both of you put together?" Troi proposed, watching the exchanges with more than casual interest as this Sakura was proving to be worth a closer study.

Rhea was surprised at being treated to a hailstorm of rapid attacks, most of which she either dodged or avoided, but quite a few came close enough to need actual blocking. Try as she might she could not grapple or get a hold of the other girl's wrists, nor turn her attacks against her, enduring a full-strength Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken with every blow striking at her with the force of a sledgehammer. It seemed as though Sakura threw a hundred punches in only a second, and her kicks came just as swiftly, alternating with high and low attacks that ranged the gamut of possible attack points.

Muku just stared in disbelief as Sakura launched an onslaught that was both savage and well controlled, forcing Rhea on the defensive for real this time as the reddish-gold haired warrior had to match her opponent's speed and counter the force of her chi-backed attacks. It actually seemed as if her best friend was trying to hurt the other girl rather than simply test her defenses.

"What's with her?" Yui asked, seeing her normal sparring partner fight as if she had a great grudge against this newcomer, and that was not at all like the normally affable opponent that Yui was used to fighting for a hobby.

"Good question," Ken remarked, "Such hostility would lead one almost to suspect that she was trying to impress somebody, and I wonder who that could be?"

"Oh, you guys are so dense!" Yumi snorted, "Isn't it obvious by now? Sakura's fighting like that because she's jealous of the new girl."

"Jealous?" Muku blinked, "Of Rhea?"

"Of you, Dummy," Yumi snorted, "Don't you get it by now? Sakura-chan's your next best friend, after me, of course...and yet you let some new girl walk right into your life and now she's the only thing you can think or talk about. How do you think that makes us feel, being tossed over like an old retread?"

"What?" Muku started, "But I'd never..."

"Yeah, right," Yumi huffed, "Good thing I'm an easy going type or I'd feel jealous, just like Sakura. After all, you're the one who pushes her harder in a fight than almost anybody, except Yui here, and if you wind up spending more time with someone else...well...she's bound to feel a bit miffed about being so neglected."

"Neglected?" Muku blinked, "I'd never neglect..."

"Anyone?" Yumi replied, "Tell me that again when you take a good long look in the mirror sometime. You might be surprised with what you see when it comes to this new girl you're mooning over."

"I am not mooning-!" Muku started to declare when a familiar sensation settled over her, a chill that ran along her spine and caused her battle senses to flare to full alarm status.

Troi felt it too, and reacted with a start, "WHAT? Here and now? What are those stupid Venomoids up to this time?"

"Hey-what the...?" Tenma declared as they all saw the world resolve into off-  
tone colors, discoloring as the air rippled all around them.

"What in the name of the Kami...?" Yui was on her feet and holding her umbrella at the ready.

Rhea and Sakura broke off their own duel as the former declared, "We're in subspace! But...why?"

"Subspace?" Sakura blinked, also noticing the changes in their surroundings.

"Everybody be on the alert!" Ranma declared.

"You don't have to say it twice, Sugar," Ukyo rose up with battle spatula at the ready, "Looks like we've got company about to pay us a visit."

Before anyone could ask what she meant by that the roof of the dojo was suddenly torn away like the lid to a huge box, and there-towering above everyone-was the intimidating sight of a fifteen meter tall giant robot looming over everyone with its cyclopean menace.

"What the hell?" Ken exclaimed.

"It's a giant robot...just like on TV!" Yumi declared

"Not like the TV kind, Kid," Troi growled as she moved away from the wall and stood at the ready, "I smell a rat somewhere, so...everybody be ready!"

"A rat you say?" a new voice asked, one second before the armored form of Nova appeared, arms folded over her chest as she hovered in mid-air with her long cherry mane of hair flowing all about her, "Come now, Auntie, you can do better than that!"

"You!" Troi snarled, and all at once she was holding an energy sword in her hand, "What do you want here, Brat?"

"I'd think that was obvious," Nova smiled, "I'm here to kill you...especially YOU, Cousin!"

"Who...is that?" Rhea blinked.

"You're asking me?" Sakura replied, looking a bit pale for all her effort not to show the same levels of fear as many of the others.

"Friend of yours, Sugar?" Ukyo asked.

"Hardly," Troi snarled, "More like a bad blood relation. Better see to the kids, this is gonna get hairy!"

"More than you know," Nova grinned, "Observe...all around you."

"What...?" Ken started as he felt something move behind the walls of the dojo, moving to shelter Yumi as the walls formed hands and reached out to snare them.

"Demons!" Yui cried as she threw several ofudo strips at a demonic form that attempted to grab her.

"Careful!' Perm cried as she leaped away from another shadow form and stood in a defensive crouch near to Rhea and Sakura, "The walls not only have ears, but tentacles that seek to claim us!"

"Tentacles?" Tenma winced as he edged closer to his mother and father.

"Oh crap-Venomoids!" Troi cried, "Get everybody back, and don't let them touch you!"

"Good advice," Ranma said, "Only question is...how?"

Ukyo lashed out at one creature and sliced its arms before it could get close to her and their son, crying, "EVERYBODY GET A WEAPON-that means YOU TOO, RANCHAN! Forget any talk about fighting unarmed..."

"You don't have to tell me twice," her husband said as he snatched up a practice naginata and began spinning it around to lash out at shadows he only barely even saw forming all around them.

Rhea had her beam saber in hand before the nearest shadow could close in around them and was slicing through the middle of a creature that sought to corner Sakura. As the latter stood stunned at the near rescue, the young Iczer calmly said, "You have best claim hold of your Baker's Peel and make use of it if you want to defend yourself and the others."

"How are you...?" Sakura asked as she stared at the beam saber, then got a hold of her emotions and said, "Right!" only to find her way cut off between herself and her chosen weapon.

Muku saw the problem and grabbed up the giant spatula that was presently resting in the space where Sakura normally sat by her side, moving forward in order to toss it at the other girl, only to sense a shadow manifesting in the space by her side, reaching to grapple her, and so she reacted on instinct, slicing upward with the edge of the peel at where a human neck would normally be, only to sever an eyeball-shaped head from its shoulders, much to her horror as she backed away with a terrified expression.

All at once that head burst apart and tentacles came shooting at her, coming within a few inches of actually touching her skin, only to stop short as a warm pulsed from her arm, and all at once an invisible barrier prevented them from achieving their aim.

"WHAT?" Muku staggered backward in surprise, feeling the warmth coming from the bracelet that Rhea had insisted she continue to wear (against class policy that forbade ornamentation of any sort).

All at once she found Yumi cowering behind her, saying, "They can't seem to reach you...what is it that's keeping that thing back?"

"I...I don't..." Muku started to say when she reflexively extended her hand, pointing it at the creature, and-all at once-rays of light shot from the bracelet to strike the tentacle mass and cause them to disintegrate into burned out ashes.

"Holy Mother of Mayhem!" Tenma exclaimed as he stared at the smoldering ashes, then at the girl who wearing the bracelet.

"A C'thuwulf Force Bracelet, kid," Troi smiled as she paused in the act of slicing through another Venomoid menace, "First, best line of defense when dealing with alien scum that wants to eat you."

"Muku!" Sakura's voice called out, breaking Muku out of her daze as she belatedly remembered to toss the bakers peel her way. The young Chef caught it easily, then smiled, turning to face the creatures that had been threatening her and Rhea, "Now you'll see what it means to threaten a Saotome, you slimy bastards!"

Ukyo was already busy showing other enemies the business end of her bakers peel, but Troi was quicker in spotting other attackers and caught one on the end of her saber before it could drop on the Cook's head from above.

"Easy there, Beautiful!" Troi warned while shaking the Venomoid clear of her saber, not even watching as the thing disintegrated to charcoal-like fragments, "Your kawaii husband would be awfully upset if you allowed one of these things to take you over."

"Take us over?" Ranma said, "You mean...like possession?"

"I mean exactly what I said," Troi turned in search of more enemies, but found-  
-much to her amazement-that the rest of the kids had finished off their antagonists using the dojo's store of practice weapons.

"Everybody all right?" Ken asked, glancing around, "No one hurt?"

"No one," Rhea declared firmly, "I have already scanned you...not one trace of Venomoid activity remains...there are no possessions, Auntie."

"What a relief," Troi breathed a sigh, only to frown as she heard the one named Nova laughing, "What's so funny to you, Squirt?"

"That was just too easy," Nova said scornfully, "I told them they shouldn't have wasted a Venomoid attack squad on the likes of you. I'm all that's needed to polish you off, and these worthless humans, Auntie."

With that Nova gestured, her hand forming a ball of energy that lashed out at Troi, who tried to deflect with her beam saber, only to be picked up and thrown to the far end of the dojo. So intense was the blast that everyone else was similarly thrown to the sides by the backwash, excluding only Muku, who was again protected by a strange energy field that rose up to surround her, and Rhea, who stood braced against the backwash.

"Damn!" Sakura growled as she recovered from having her back slammed into a practice dummy, "What was that? Didn't feel like a normal Chi-burst..."

Rhea positioned herself at Muku's side and held her beam saber at the ready, "Careful...this one is like me...a powerful fighting unit, and she has an Iczer Robo to back her."

"Iczer...Robo?" Muku blinked, staring at the humongous robot.

"Gah..." Troi staggered forward, her gi partially shredded off her body, her beam saber sputtering as though low on battery juice, "What the hell was that...?"

"You like it?" Nova beamed brightly, "I call it my Sanjiro beam...with it I can even take down an outmoded Iczer model like you, Auntie...like to try it again?"

"Outmoded?" Troi growled, "Are you calling me obsolete?"

"I'm calling you an old hag who needs to be taken back by the manufacturer," Nova declared, "'Cause unlike you, I don't need to bond with a partner!"

"Say...what?" Rhea started, "Is...such a thing possible, Auntie?"

"No it ain't," Troi sniffed, "You can't be a real Iczer if you don't have any need for a partner..."

"Then where is your partner?" Nova asked with a look of smug contentment.

"Eh...ah..." Troi faltered.

"That's what I thought!" Nova smiled, calling up an energy sword that burned twice as brightly as the one in Troi's hand, and with a single charging swipe she knocked both Iczer and Sword to the side as though she were swatting a fly, leaving a Troi-shaped hole in passing, to which Nova sneered, "You're pathetic! Without a partner you don't have anywhere near the energy it would take to face me down, Old Timer!"

"Auntie!" Rhea cried out in dismay.

"We have to do something," Muku looked around at the scattered forms of her best friends, "If we don't stop her somebody will get killed..."

"I know," Rhea said grimly, "But there is only one thing that can stop her. Muku-chan...be ready...I am summoning up my other self, Gamma-Theta."

"Your...what?" Muku blinked, only to react with a start as a glow filled the sky, visible through the space where the roof had been mere moments before.

All at once another giant form took shape beyond the damaged remains of the dojo, just as huge and ponderous as the one currently looming over their heads, only sleek and shiny with armor plates of red and gold coloration.

"All right now!" Nova grinned, "This is the fun I've been waiting for! Going to give me a good show, Cousin?"

"Count on it," Rhea said grimly, leaping into the air, even as a spotlight fell over the place where Muku was standing. Before the other girl could so much as give a yelp she found herself being gripped in an invisible force screen and picked up like a rag doll, drawn to the shape of the newly arrived robot as Muku stared in dismay, seeing the ground diminish beneath her.

There was hardly any time for her to ask questions...all she knew was that there was a tingling sensation that flowed around the outside of her body, and then a warmth passing over her, as soothing as a nice hot bath. Muku opened her eyes and found herself inside some sort of capsule, one that was translucent on the outer plating, and-staring beyond this-she saw a weirdly discolored landscape as barren as it was uninviting. She opened her mouth to ask where she was and received her second shock, for what passed from her lungs was not air but some sort of low-viscosity fluid.

"WHAT?" she cried, not even seeing air bubbles escape her lips, "I'm...underwater...?"

"No," Rhea's voice spoke inside her head, "You're inside Iczer Robo model Gamma-  
Theta, my other self. What you are breathing is a synthetic bio-amniotic fluid of C'thuwulf manufacture...it won't hurt you and it will sustain your body in perfect health. You can breathe normally and even talk, if you want, and it will protect you against any shocks or strains you might encounter."

That was when Muku had her third astonishing discovery-and one that belied that reassurance-for as she glanced down to see the harness-like chair that she was resting in she discovered that her clothes were no where in evidence and that some sort of metal plating was covering certain key parts of her body.

"I'm...NAKED?" she gasped.

"It is necessary," Rhea replied, "There is no need for outer garments when surrounded with bioamniotic fluid, and clothing would just get in the way. Besides which, it is...required that you feel naturally at ease when you are in this state...it will help the process of Synchronization between us."

"What are you talking about?" Muku cried, fighting against the urge to hold her breath underwater, and disturbed beyond imagining at the sensation of breathing and talking within liquid, "I don't know anything about..."

All at once the other robot loomed up menacingly, casually kicking against the remains of the dojo. It stood before them as tall as a large office building, yet formed like an armored figure of some sort, and from its war-like faceplate the voice of Nova called out, "NOW WE'RE ARE READY TO TEST THAT OLD-TYPE MODEL OF YOURS AND SEE HOW IT HOLDS UP BEFORE MY NEW AND IMPROVED ICZER OMEGA!"

"You call yourself an Iczer, and yet you fight for the cause of evil?" Rhea's voice challenged in reply, "What kind of a monster are you?"

"WHY DON'T YOU TEST ME AND FIND OUT FOR YOURSELF, COUSIN!"

"Why do you call me Cousin?" Rhea wondered, "What relationship is there between us?"

"WHY DON'T YOU ASK YOUR SENSEI, MY MOTHER, ICZER TWO?" the voice thundered back, "NOT THAT YOU'LL EVER GET THE CHANCE, OF COURSE, SINCE I AM ABOUT TO DESTROY YOU, ICZER FOUR!"

"My name is Kano Rhea," the golden haired Iczer replied calmly, "And you will not defeat me, for I am linked with my Muku-chan, and together the two of us will defeat you...Cousin."

"Say...what?" Muku gasped, more surprised than anyone else upon hearing this declaration...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Robo Jocks Anonymous: shadowmane

Let's Get Ready to Rumble as the battle of the Iczer Robos get underway, but is Muku prepared to be a part of this particular sparring match, and what are the stakes of survival? Learn the answer to this and many other questions next time in: "Crash go the Titans," or, "Ask Not for Whom the Referee Bell Tolls, it Tolls for Thee!" Be there!

X -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	10. Chapter 10

Earthchild10

The Earthchild

(A Ranma/Iczer Crossover)

by Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi &amp; Others)

Chapter Ten.

It was a fairly nice evening when Tojiro Mifune chose to take his dog for a walk near the park regions of the old city, nice and quiet with a low volume of traffic and hardly a soul to be seen on the streets this close to the time of the latest Kazane episode, a favorite family show growing in popularity of late, especially with his wife and daughter.

Tojiro did not really watch the ongoing series about a luckless teenaged girl seeking romance and adventure, but he knew enough about it from his wife and daughter not to quibble about the finer points of absurdity that he found hard to reconcile in either the plot or the makeup of the personality of the major characters, deciding that there were just something about the show that appealed to the "empowerment" element of having unusual abilities far beyond those of a salary man or corporate employee. Such simple diversions were harmless for the masses, and for people like himself, who had so little power over his own life that he would often do the household chores without complaining.

In truth he liked spending what time he could by himself, and strolling through the park, especially around sunset when the park was just beginning to empty out from the afternoon crowds as people returned to their homes and retired for the day, which was a pity in Tojiro's eyes as the sunset hour was especially lovely seen from the prominence of the shrine at Cherry Blossom hill. Of course the open fields were a perfect place to let Sanjiro off his leash so he could romp and play and get the exercise he never could in the cramped yard of their apartment, so Tojiro headed that way, thinking he might be able to find some peace and quiet in the open air, away from the problems of the office and the homefront. That was his ideal of a leisurely existence, just doing some time on the way to retirement and a well-earned break from the hassles of a nine-to-five existence.

Of course Toshiro was aware that there were problems in the world, but nothing he needed to worry about, certainly nothing that he could affect in any significant way, and so he tended to pay such larger matters no great attention. After all, strange and unusual things were what happened to somebody else, not an average man like himself trying to live a quiet life and an ordinary existence...

Sanjiro started barking, backing up instead of moving forward and then giving a low whine as if he were detecting something that was very alarming. Tojiro was about to ask his pet what was the matter when he felt a curious vibration rumbling in the air all around him. He started to look up when he felt the weight of something invisible pressing down against his shoulders. Tojiro stooped under the presence of that weight, straining to remain upright, as though gravity had just increased all around him. As he contemplated the impossibility of that thought, reckoning that he had watched one too many sci-fi programs in his youth, he started to feel the mass of something ponderously heavy moving overhead.

Then the weight left him suddenly, as unexpected as it had come over him in the first place. Tojiro straightened up and looked, expecting to see...something...only to see nothing at all moving overhead. He blinked his eyes and thought about checking his prescription glasses when a shadowy image appeared...just briefly...as though defracted by the light and only just visible at a certain angle...a large and ponderous shape...roughly humanoid, like a an armored figure impossibly huge and incredibly massive, like one of those giant robot Mecha you only saw in Anime or kids shows like Dynaman. It was gone far too quickly for him to be certain that he had even seen it in the first place, and yet some instinct warned him not to doubt its existence, as though the shadow of death itself had hovered near to his head and passed him by, as though he were too insignificant for it to pay him much attention.

Strangely enough, Tojiro was almost insulted at the thought of this, and yet he was just as grateful to turn around and leave that area than risk finding out if it had just been the product of too much imagination. Sanjiro was just as eager to flee the area, he noted, as the dog tugged on his leash to urge his Master to make haste, something Tojiro hardly needed as the sense of urgency was like a warning sense of danger. He did not know what that giant Mecha was up to at the moment, but he doubted that he would want to know, and besides which it fell into that category of "things that went over his head" in a quite literal sense of the concept.

Overhead the unseen and invisible Mecha in question, called an "Iczer Robo" in the C'thuwulf lexicon, was indeed paying no heed to the hapless salaryman, its pilot and co-pilot being primarily concerned with matters of a more immediate and defensive nature. It came to slow "park" in the air roughly one hundred meters above the ground while its pilot paused to take stock of their position.

"Central Command," she relayed, "This is Iczer Alpha. We have moved into position on grid Nine, no contact with the enemy at present.

"Confirm Command, this is Iczer Beta," came the accompanying reply, "Moving into position on grid five, no contact with the enemy at present."

"Acknowledged," came Lieutenant Commander Sepia's reply, "We read you at your present locations...confirmed acquisition of the target area. Whoever the intruders are, you're almost sitting right on top of them, Units Alpha and Beta."

"No change in enemy signature," came Force Leader Cobalt's affirmation, "They're either with you now or in some point of concealment. Recommend maximum caution be advised for all units. The enemy is cunning and deceitful, and the moment you lower your guard..."

"Acknowledged Central," Iczer Two reported from the command capsule of her two-  
person Iczer Robo, murmuring on a sub-vocal channel, "Looks like we to sit tight and let the enemy make the next move, eh Sister?'

"I don't like it any better than you, Two," Iczer One responded, "But it seems that would be the best approach for dealing with this particular type of enemy. Be mindful that our suspicions-if confirmed-will mean that extra precautions should be taken when approaching..."

"If you mean to imply by that will I have any qualms about facing She whom I once foolishly called my mother," Iczer Two said with a grim, humorless smile, "Then I assure you that I will not hesitate to do what is right and necessary. I stand united with you, Oneechan, and I will never betray you or allow Big Gold to assert any claim against my loyalties..."

"I know you won't Sister," Iczer One said calmly, "Just as I know that you would never do anything to jeopardize Sayoko. I am only saying that we may be up against a foe as cunning and deadly as any other we have ever faced..."

"Would you two knock it off with the chatter already?" Sayoko complained from the central chest capsule, "We already know that Two won't turn on account of the enemy, because I won't let anyone else get inside her head but me! Just let Gold try and strong arm my honey, I'll give her what for!"

This time Iczer Two's smile was genuine as she replied, "I know you would, Darling, and I pity anyone who would be foolish enough to brook your righteous wrath. I am only saying that we should all be cautious..."

"But not too cautious," Nagisa pointed out, "Aren't you the one who's always saying that playing it too cautious gets you dead just as quick as being reckless?"

"No, that was actually something Troi said to me once," Two corrected, "I'm more the one who said that there is a fine line between timidity and caution, or recklessness and bravado..."

"Either way," Iczer One remarked, "Let's all be careful and see what sort of mischief the enemy has planned for us, and why they seem to be avoiding us at the moment."

"Maybe they're not really in hiding," Nagisa considered, "Maybe they really are right here but invisible to normal detection..."

"You mean maybe some kind of stealth mode or something?" Sayoko asked, "Like what we use to avoid being seen at ground level?"

"It is at least a conceivable possibility," Iczer Two said thoughtfully, "Or maybe..."

All at once a discoloration pattern flowed around the landscape surrounding the two Iczers, and though they were separated by a full kilometer, still they managed to wind up in roughly the same place, standing atop a weird environment that stretched off as far as the eye could see in all directions.

"We're in Subspace!" Iczer One needlessly reported.

"That was going to be my second choice," Iczer Two noted grimly, "I think we now know how the enemy was able to avoid our visual detection."

"No fooling," Sayoko responded, "So...where are the bad guys?"

"My guess is they'll be showing their hand at any moment," Nagisa warned, "So we'd better be ready for a sneak..."

"LOOK OUT!" Iczer One cried out, then followed her own advice by firing her Robo's engines to move them out of the way as a savage blast of energy fried the spot where they had been standing.

Iczer Two fought hard to move her massive unit out of the way, even as a pair of solid projectiles pierced the space where she and Sayoko had been hovering mere instants before, two huge harpoon-like spikes that were as long as rail cars, but infinitely more deadly.

"Nagisa-san," Iczer Two declared as she righted herself after some aerial gymnastics that allowed her to put distance between her unit and her attacker, "You should have been an Oracle!"

"Is that a fancy way of saying that I should have kept my mouth shut?" Nagisa wondered.

"Got it in one!" Sayoko affirmed, only to stare out the translucent bubble canopy of her chest-cavity capsule and blink, "Who the heck are those bozos who just attacked us? They look like..."

"Giant Monsters," Iczer One confirmed, "I make four of them, only the readings show that they use the same technology as an Iczer Robo."

"So much for theory," Iczer Two grimly noted, "I think hypothesis just moved up to thesis."

"Yeah, no fooling," Nagisa duly noted.

"SO," a booming voice rang out over the no-person's combat zone that separated the two Iczer Robos from the four armored shapes that dominated the subspace field before them, "YOU ANTICIPATED OUR OPENING MOVES...BUT SUCH EVASIONS WILL NOT AVAIL YOU WHEN THE TRUE BATTLE IS ENJOINED, ICZER-TRASH!"

"That voice!" Iczer Two reacted, "I know I've heard it before...somewhere..."

"Friend of yours?" Sayoko asked.

"Hardly," Iczer Two replied, "I...think that I killed her on our last encounter."

"You think?" Nagisa asked, slightly appalled.

"SO, YOU REMEMBER YOUR TREACHERY FROM BEFORE, DO YOU?" a mountainous armored shape rumbled.

"Actually, I believe that treachery was your tactic of choice," Iczer Two replied, "You tried to ambush me with a sneak attack, futile though it was. I only returned the favor."

"Sister," Iczer One inquired, "Do you know who your attacker is?"

"I believe so," Iczer Two affirmed, "Golem, wasn't it? One of the four defective Bioroids who served under Neos Gold, in point of fact, their self-  
described leader..."

"YOU ARE THE ONE WHO IS DEFECTIVE!" came the immediate response to this, "YOU WILL CEASE TO EXIST AFTER THIS ENCOUNTER! WE, THE FOUR SISTERS OF THE COMET, SHALL DESTROY YOU UTTERLY AND THOSE PATHETIC HUMANS YOU CALL YOUR PARTNERS!"

"Hey," Sayoko declared, "Let's not get personal here. Aren't you the guys who launched that sneak attack against the Earth a few years back?"

"Fifteen years to be exact," Iczer One replied, "Though I was only a part of that conflict near the end. As I recall it, you and Troi handled most of the fighting that time around, Sister."

"Mostly the half-pint," Iczer Two replied, "A pity she isn't here with us, she would appreciate the reunion."

Another of the giant enemy monsters rang forth with an angry voice, "ENOUGH OF THIS BANTER! GIVE THE ORDER FOR US TO KILL THEM NOW, GOLEM! I ITCH TO TEST OUT MY MANDABLES AGAINST THE ARMORED FLESH OF AN ICZER!"

"PATIENCE, INSECT," the one described as Golem declared, "OUR ORDERS ARE TO TAKE OUR TIME AND DEAL WITH THEM STEP BY STEP UNTIL THEY ARE HUMBLED..."

"Geez, who writes your dialogue?" Sayoko winced, "You sound like refugees from Gatchaman! What do you think this is? The Power Rangers?"

"SILENCE, YOU CUR!" yet another of the monstrous shapes demanded, "OR I WILL SILENCE YOU NOW, ORDERS OR NO ORDERS!"

"Try it and you'll be taking a one-way trip back to the scrap heap, Bigro," Iczer Two said grimly, "You four weaklings have no business challenging us to a major battle. Subspace is our natural environment, and here you fight on our turf against two fully empowered Iczers."

"AH, BUT WE HAVE BEEN ARMED TO MATCH YOU ARMOR FOR ARMOR," the fourth of these giant figures (the one that looked a bit like huge golden doll), "AND WHEN YOU SEE WHAT WE ARE CAPABLE OF DOING TO YOU NOW, YOU WILL NOT BE SO QUICK TO DISMISS THE FOUR SISTERS."

"This is getting boring already," Nagisa sniffed (not an easy thing to do when submerged in breathable fluid), "Are you going to make the first move or leave it to us to start kicking your sorry butts back to whatever junkyard you were fished out of?"

"Easy, Nagisa-chan," Iczer One cautioned, "We don't really know what they can do just yet..."

"But she does have a good point, your partner," Iczer Two softly mused, "Standing around exchanging barbs just isn't my style these days, not since I stopped calling myself one of the bad guys. I say we take them on and let the dice roll as they must."

"Somebody do something!" Sayoko insisted, "I'm gonna go nuts in here if I have to hear any more of this crappy boasting!"

"YOU WISH TO KNOW YOUR END NOW?" the one named Golem declared, "VERY WELL, WE SHALL BEGIN THIS WITH A BANG, AS YOU EARTHERS PUT IT."

All at once the ground beneath the two Iczers exploded upwards, and to the mutual amazement of both Iczers and partners the two giant robots found themselves ensnared by fibrous cords the size of cables, immobilizing them both before either sister could take evasive action.

"Kuso!" Iczer One declared, using a Japanese cuss-word to express her vexation.

"These fibers...they're stronger than they look!" Iczer Two growled as she fought to free her Beta unit.

"OF COURSE," the armored doll opposing them replied, "WHY ELSE DO YOU THINK THAT I AM KNOWN AS FIBER? YOU LEFT YOURSELVES OPEN TO ATTACK BY HESITATING, SO DO NOT COMPLAIN TO ME IF YOU ARE NOT INCAPABLE OF TAKING EVASIVE ACTIONS."

"WHICH MAKES IT EASIER FOR THE REST OF US TO USE YOU FOR TARGET PRACTICE!" said the one named Insect, aiming her giant pincers at the two Iczers before spitting out a pair of rocket-launched projectiles.

"Oh shit!" Sayoko declared as she saw the projectiles arrowing straight towards her position...

"GNA!" Troi declared as she heaved a heavy wooden beam off of her body, "Anybody get the number of that Star Destroyer? What the hell did she hit me with? Felt solid, like a freight train..."

"Is everyone all right?" Ranma asked as he and the others crawled out from under the wreckage, helping Ukyo and the others who had escaped the worst of the collapsing dojo.

"I think so, Dad," Sakura said as she helped her brother to his feet, then turned and did the same for Yumi, "Nobody seems to be badly hurt...I guess we got lucky on that score..."

"...All things else being taken into consideration," Ken noted, favoring one shoulder, "I'd consider suing the offending party, but somehow I don't think that our attacker is the sort to care too much about collateral damage."

"Like that Rhea is any better?" Yui asked, looking around now that their safety had been assured, "And where the heck is this place? Doesn't look too much like our Nerima..."

"No, you are wrong," Perm declared, "It is exactly the same as our Nerima...but see the discoloration effect? It is as though the landscape is no more substantial than a cardboard movie set. Those buildings have an insubstantial quality about them, and even the dojo itself feels less than genuine, as though it had been replaced with a facsimile model."

"Have you been playing with your sister's Chem set?" Yumi asked in disbelief, "What do you mean facsimile model? You think it's made of paper mache or something?"

"No, she's right," Tenma declared as he gave an experimental kick at one beam, "It looks real, but there's something that ain't quite right about it...you know what I mean, Pop?"

"Not really," Ranma declared, "But I'm more than willing to take your word on it, Son."

"But where are Muku and Rhea?" Ukyo asked.

"Up there," Troi nodded, drawing their attention towards the looming shadow that they had somehow managed not to notice until that second, "Inside Iczer Robo unit Gamma Theta, about to go one-on-one with my so-called Niece, Miss Sugar-  
and-Spice, Nova!"

As young and old martial artists collectively heaved a gasp at the sight of a one-hundred-and-seventy meter tall armored Mecha-facing off with a different make and model of the same type-at that very moment, Muku herself was trying to take stock of an impossible situation, being submerged in some type of breathable fluid while stark naked and strapped down inside of a harness of some sort, peering out through the transparent shell of a pod-like capsule located inside the armored chest of the aforementioned Unit Gamma Theta.

"How's that again?" Muku was saying in tones of stark disbelief, "I'm you're WHAT?"

"My partner," she heard Rhea's voice inside her head as though the two of them had an in-built cellular phone line between them, "The other part of a team that includes my other self, Gamma Theta. You are the heart and soul of my Robo, and through the link that has grown between us, we shall overcome our enemies..."

"The link between us?" Muku blanched, "What am I here? Some kind of goddamned battery unit? What the hell have you done to me, and where are my clothes?"

The mocking laughter of Nova could be heard across the intervening open space separating them from the enemy Iczer, "SOME PARTNER YOU'VE CHOSEN! SHE SOUNDS SO PATHETIC! WHERE ARE YOU CLOTHES YOU ASK? NEXT YOU'LL BE WANTING TO KNOW WHERE YOU LEFT YOUR STUPID HOUSE KEYS!"

"You leave her alone!" Rhea snapped with surprising heat, "Muku-chan's never been inside of an Iczer Robo before...it's not like I had any time to prepare her..."

"NOR DO I INTEND TO GIVE YOU TIME TO SORT THINGS OUT," Nova sneered, "I INTEND TO PROVE TO YOU THE SUPERIORITY OF MY OMEGA OVER YOU AND YOUR ANTIQUATED GAMMA THETA! THIS MARKS OUR FIRST AND LAST MEETING, COUSIN, AND IT'S WHERE I CONSIGN THE BOTH OF YOU TO THE SCRAP HEAP!"

"Say what?" Muku bristled, finding the sound of the other girl's voice to be even more annoying than her unclothed status.

"Be ready, Muku-chan!" Rhea warned, right before the enemy began to build up a tremendous charge of energy, which same she unleashed their way, causing Muku to automatically raise her arms and flinch in a defensive manner.

To her amazement the Iczer Robo itself raised his colossal arms and copied her gesture, raising some sort of invisible shield that caught and deflected the blast, which nonetheless hit hard enough to stagger their huge robotic form by several decameters.

"NOT BAD," Nova remarked as the energy field surrounding Iczer Omega continued to intensify, "BUT LET'S SEE YOU BLOCK THIS ATTACK!"

A far more potent energy blast shot from the outstretched fists of the enemy Iczer Robo, splitting apart mid-way and arching at several sharply curving angles to strike in four separate places that caused the invisible shield to crackle and spark all around unit Gamma Theta.

"OWWW!" Muku cried as she felt sparks rise about her arms, almost exactly matching the places that had been struck by the spillover effect of that last blast, even as the remaining energy of the blast continued to play out all around the Iczer's defenses.

"I'm sorry," Rhea replied, "I failed to dampen out some of the feedback. I wasn't prepared for her attack having that much kinetic energy..."

"ENOUGH TO LOWER THE STRENGTH OF YOUR SHIELDING," Nova declared, rushing forward, "THE BETTER TO DO-THIS!"

Muku blinked her eyes in amazement as she saw the impossibly huge Iczer Omega charge forward with the speed of a human opponent and suddenly a fist shot forward, aimed at the armored faceplate of their unit. Rhea reacted just in time to bend their Iczer Robo out of the way, but this left her open to a second punch, which Nova threw, aimed at the chest compartment and a terrified Muku!

"NO!" she cried as she tried to lift her arms to deflect the attack, but once again the unit Gamma Theta complied with her instinctive maneuver by reaching up with one hand to grip the enemy robot's wrist within its gauntlet.

"Let us see how you like this one-COUSIN!" Rhea declared even as the giant robot moved to throw the enemy robot over hip in a classic jiu-jitsu maneuver, only to belatedly see the remains of the dojo standing in the way of its collapsing hulk.

"NOOO!" Muku cried, terrified beyond words as she saw the tiny forms attempting to scramble out of the way.

"OH HELL!" Troi cried as she, too, realized that she and her companions would never make it out from under Iczer Gamma in time, so she did the best she could to gather them all up in her arms and force a spot-teleportation.

The effort taxed her even more than she would have guessed as they manifested again only a short distance away from the crash zone, just in time to see the falling robot shape come down on what had been left standing of both restaurant and dojo.

"My place!" Ukyo shouted in dismay, "Our home!"

"Is everybody here and all right?" Ranma cried, being the first to regain his bearings.

"Oh yeah," Yumi winced, "Just terrific...but I think I left my lunch back there, Uncle..."

"Head count, people!" Sakura snapped to attention, "Yui, Ken, Perm?"

"All here, I think," her fianc e duly noted, "Were you worried?"

"Of course not," Sakura sniffed, "I knew I wouldn't get that lucky. But where's...my little brother?"

"Tenma?" Ukyo reacted, looking around frantically for her son, "TEN-CHAN...?"

"It's okay," Ranma gestured, noting a figure picking his way past the wreckage, "He made it out in time ahead of us, just like his Old Man."

"If you mean to imply the Saotome Survival reflex," Perm remarked, "I can well attest to its effectiveness."

"Tell me about it," Yui grimaced.

"Tenma?" Ukyo turned and hugged her son as he came within arms reach, "You're all right...thank the Kami!"

"Aw Mom," Tenma reacted with embarrassment as his mother crushed him to her bosom, "I'm not a baby...I'm all right, honest!"

"You're luckier than you know, Kid," Troi ruffled the boy's hair, then paused to turn her attention back towards the battle, "Only thing is...we were all just a little too lucky that time. Whoever that so-called niece of mine is, she's definitely gonna be paying for that one!"

During this interval, the fallen Iczer Gamma had recovered in time to roll back to its feet, whirling about like an enraged samurai and declaring, "YOU THINK YOU CAN MAKE A FOOL OUT OF ME? NO ONE DOES THAT TO ICZER GAMMA AND LIVES...!"

"Please desist in your efforts," Rhea called out, "You almost hurt those humans and my sister..."

"LIKE I GIVE A RATS ASS ABOUT A BUNCH OF STUPID HUMANS!" Nova declared, raising her arms and once again summoning up her power, "I'M BLOWING YOU AWAY RIGHT HERE AND NOW, COUSIN! SAY GOODBYE TO YOUR ROBO AND YOUR PARTNER!"

"Stupid humans?" Muku barely had time to recover from her relief at learning that her friends were still alive, but hearing that comment caused her anger to flare up as she cried out, "Who the FUCK are you calling a stupid human, you...Maniac!"

The blast that Nova unleashed this time was far more intense than the previous two salvos, only this time it met a far stronger energy field that easily absorbed the blast without any residual effect to either Gamma Sigma or its two pilots.

"Muku-chan?" Rhea murmured in amazement at feeling the intensifying surge of Iczerio energy that was pouring out from her partner, fortifying her unit.

"Oh hell!" Troi cried as she sensed the energy wash sweeping towards them like a wave of inferno, and only by hastily summoning up an energy field to protect herself and those surrounding her was she able to avoid anyone being fried to a crisp within an eyeblink.

"I'm not taking any more of your stupid crap, whoever the hell you are!" Muku continued, "HOW DARE you nearly crush my friends and Sensei then dismiss what you did so casually? What kind of an inhuman monster are you?"

"A BIOROID, JUST THE SAME AS YOUR SO-CALLED PARTNER," Nova responded.

"A...Bioroid?" Muku repeated, surprise taking some of the fire out of her anger.

"MORE PRECISELY, A COMBAT MODEL, DESIGNED TO FIGHT AND TO KILL, THE SAME AS ME!" Nova thunderously declared, "ONLY NOT LIKE ME BECAUSE SHE RELIES ON HAVING A STUPID PARTNER FOR A SOURCE OF ICZERIO ENERGIES, WHEREAS I GET ALL OF MY POWER DIRECTLY FROM MY ICZER ROBO ITSELF!"

"What?" Rhea reacted, "Is such a thing...possible?"

"No partner?" Troi similarly reacted, "That's flat out crazy! What the heck is she using instead, Eveready batteries?"

"NOT ONLY POSSIBLE, BUT REAL!" Nova declared, "TAKE A GOOD HARD LOOK AT MY ICZER GAMMA'S CHEST CAPSULE...DO YOU SEE WHAT IS THERE?"

Rhea hastily adjusted her sensory relays then examined the enemy Iczer for a moment before declaring, "A Void? You're using a Void instead of a Partner?"

"A Void?" Muku blinked, "What's that?"

"A Void?" Troi blinked, "Now I know she's crazy! A Void isn't like having a real partner! It's just a stupid drone, useful as a mobile combat unit but hardly capable of generating energy levels like this!"

"THAT'S BECAUSE YOU'RE THINKING CONVENTIONALLY, AUNTIE!" Nova responded as though she had heard Troi's comment, "THIS VOID IS MORE ALIVE THAN YOU KNOW, AND IT WAS ESPECIALLY DESIGNED FOR ME BY MY ALL-POWERFUL GRANDMOTHER."

"All powerful...grandmother?" Troi blanched, "No way..."

"YES WAY," Nova declared, "AND TO PROVE MY POINT I WILL NOW RELEASE MY TRUE POWER AGAINST YOU, COUSIN!"

Once again Muku saw the energy field rise up to surround the enemy giant robot, blazing like a super-intense battle aura like the fires of a great inferno about to be unleashed upon them.

"What do we do?" Muku asked aloud, dismay fanning out the residual flames of her former anger.

"Be ready," Rhea replied, "I will do the work, you must be strong for me and keep channeling more power."

"But-I don't know how to do that?" Muku wailed in desperation.

"Think like you did before," Rhea urged, "Back when you believed that she was about to destroy Sakura-san and the others."

"Destroy...Sakura?" Muku blinked, then saw the fires build up all around Nova, congealing into an object that was almost as tall as the Iczer Robo itself, only fashioned in the likeness of a sword. The giant Iczer Omega gripped the hilt of this sword in both gauntleted hands and held it at the ready.

"NOW WE'RE COOKING!" Nova crowed as she held aloft the blazing sword as if preparing to use it, "GET READY TO FRY, COUSIN!"

"Holy swords, Batman," Troi faintly murmured, "Who does this Nova chick think she is, Voltron?"

"Close enough," Ranma numbly agreed, "Only...I thought you guys fought with lightsabers, or something..."

"Tell her!" Troi pointed, "She's the one violating patent rights!"

Rhea fell back into a defensive crouch and said, "I think she definitely has a complex similar to your friend, Godai..."

"He's not my friend," Muku countered, "And what the heck do we do this time? Duck?"

"Not practical," Rhea declared, "Hold on...I am going to attempt to catch it."

"SAY WHAT?" Muku cried, even as she saw the sword coming right at them and had the instinctive inclination to dodge to the side, exactly as she would do when fighting Godai.

However this time the robot did not copy her movements but instead brought both hands into play, catching the descending sword between the flats of two armored palms and halting its downward trajectory as though trapped between two vice-  
grips.

"You have erred this time, Cousin," Rhea declared resolutely.

"WRONG!" Nova countered, "I'M NOT THE ONE WHO JUST FUCKED UP, YOU DID, COUSIN!"

"Eh what?" Rhea reacted with a start as the sword unleashed a massive energy discharge that traveled down both arms into the body of Gamma Theta, causing both Iczer and Muku to cry out in dismay, feeling the surge of an incredible feedback pouring over them both and sending lancing pain along down both arms and torso. It felt as though a series of knives were running down their arms and shoulders, and then all at once the pain intensified down from her right shoulder, even as the grip on Nova's sword slipped, allowing the Iczer Omega to press down with an actual thrust into Gamma Theta's shoulder.

Both Rhea and Muku cried out in mutual pain as their Iczer Robo staggered backwards, sword partially imbedded in its shoulder. Troi saw this and cried, out, "I'm coming for you, Niece!"

"Um..." Ukyo spoke up, taking a better look at their silver-haired rescuer and saying, "Are you sure that's such a good idea, Sugar?"

"Huh?" Troi glanced down, belatedly realizing that her borrowed gi had been rent and torn in some rather **interesting** places, which promoted her to say, "Oh..."

"As my mother would say, Aiyaa," Perm winced.

"What's happening with Muku?" Ken asked.

"I don't know what it is," Sakura said grimly, "But it doesn't look good..."

"We've got to help her somehow!" Yui declared.

"Oh yeah?" Yumi blanched, "Like...how?"

"Whatever it is," Ranma frowned, "We'd better do it fast."

"No time for modesty," Troi shrugged, "Guard the fort here, big guy..." and with that she launched herself into the air and streaking towards the triumphant Iczer Omega, who was just then yanking out her sword in order to prepare it for another swing at her opponent.

"She flies?" Sakura blinked in amazement.

"Obviously," Ken remarked, "There's more to the lady than we even suspected."

"You don't know the half of it, Kid," Ranma nodded matter-of-factly.

"AND NOW, COUSIN, WE END THIS!" Nova declared, drawing back for a vicious swing.

In spite of her pain, Rhea was still conscious enough to contemplate the inevitable, the looming sense of failure overwhelming her as her injuries were far too disabling to continue the fight, at which thought she murmured softly, "Muku-chan...I'm sorry...I have...failed you..."

"Hey there!" Troi suddenly flew up into the space between them and the rival Iczer Robo, "Don't give up just yet, Rhea-chan! This isn't how we do things in this family, after all...we Iczers always rally back from the edge of defeat, just like I know you will!"

"YOU AGAIN?" Nova flared, "HOW ANNOYING! PREPARE TO MEET YOU FATE EVEN SOONER THAN I HAD PLANNED FOR YOU, AUNTIE!"

All at once Troi was hovering just before the enemy Iczer's face visor, heedless of the amount of bare flesh that was presently exposed in her ruined gi, revealing her magnificently well sculpted figure to partial view.

"I think you and me are gonna have to have a long chat about this 'Aunt' stuff," Troi sniffed, "But one thing I do know for an absolute fact is that you're the one who's gonna be taking the fall here."

"ARE YOU THREATENING ME, AUNTIE?" Nova flared, "YOU FORGET THAT INSIDE THIS ICZER ROBO I AM IMMUNE TO ANYTHING YOU COULD EVEN TRY TO DO AGAINST ME!"

"Oh, I'll just bet you think you're on top of everything, Hot Stuff," Troi smirked, "But you're wrong if you think a stupid void makes you the equal to an Iczer with a partner. Take it from me, there's no substitution when it comes to bonding with a human."

"WHAT GOOD DOES HAVING A PARTNER DO BUT MAKE YOU WEAK AND VULNERABLE?" Nova sniffed, "LOOK AT THE PATHETIC SHOWING MY COUSIN'S PET HUMAN HAS DISPLAYED SO FAR...I'M BETTER OFF WITHOUT A WEAKLING LIKE HER AS MY ANCHOR!"

"You hear that, Kid?" Troi called over her shoulder, "She thinks you're weak and pathetic. You gonna take that from the likes of her?"

"E-Eh?" Muku lifted her eyes, fighting against the pain to stare with grit teeth at the hovering silver-haired Iczer.

"SHE NOT ONLY WILL TAKE IT," Nova sneered, "BUT YOU'VE JUST GIVEN ME THE PERFECT MEANS BY WHICH I CAN PROVE WHAT A MISTAKE IT IS BONDING WITH A HUMAN PARTNER!"

Once again Iczer Omega started to glow, only this time it generated a different type of energy, one that caught Muku's eyes and caused her to stare in both wonder and horror.

All at once she saw herself standing amid the remains of a ruined building, wondering how she had gotten there, and only belatedly recognizing certain key features that made her realize that she was in her own house. Everything was different, though, old and musty, as though no one had been living there for a very long time, leaving the place exposed to the elements through the ruined ceiling and the absence of one wall. Muku started to ask aloud where she was, only to stop and see her mother and father standing to one side and smiling at her in a benevolent manner.

"Mom?" she gasped, "Dad? W-what happened...?"

No sooner was the question asked but then something horrible began to happen. Her parents started to violently shake, and then their skin began to tear and peal away, rupturing internally as something burst forth from beneath their flesh, hideous shapes that she belatedly recognized as Venomoids emerging from the ruins of her parents.

Muku screamed and started to back away, only to feel hands seizing hold of her body. She fought them off and whirled around, only to see Sakura, Yumi and Yui standing there...only it was not her three best friends but rather more Venomoids appearing from the ruptured flesh of their bodies, tentacles and clawed appendages menacing and vicious!

"No!" Muku cried, edging away from both her friends and her former parents, "Get away from me! Don't touch me!"

"Muku-chan..." one of the hideous creatures mentally called out, "Come join us, Muku-chan...we are waiting for you...become one of us and live forever..."

"NO!" Muku cried, forcing her way through the ruins of a wall and rushing out onto the street just beyond the gardens surrounding her house. There Muku froze again as she saw more of the horrible Venomoid shapes prowling the streets like Zombies from the "Living Dead" series, hideous wrecks of what had been human beings and spreading out to engulf whole neighborhoods under the tide of their infection.

"You see...the whole world looks just like us?" the Venomoid that had taken the place of Sakura declared, "You can't escape or resist us...and soon you will be one of us..."

"NO!" Muku cried out, gripping her hands to fight against a shaking terror

But then Rhea's voice intruded on the horrible nightmare, "Be calm...this isn't real, Muku-chan. This is what the Venomoids mean to make happen if we don't rid the world of them altogether."

"Huh?" Muku uncovered her eyes, "It isn't...real...?"

"OH, IT'S REAL ENOUGH ALL RIGHT," Nova's voice blared loudly in her head, "AND IT'S WHAT WE'LL DO TO EVERYBODY, EVENTUALLY...ALTHOUGH IF YOU'RE A GOOD LITTLE GIRL, I MIGHT CONSENT TO SPARING YOUR FRIENDS AND LETTING THE VENOMOID HAVE THEM."

"That's...what will happen to my friends...my family?" Muku turned slowly around, then saw that the zombie-like figures surrounding her had slowed to a crawl, nearly no-motion. Though hideous to look upon, Muku deduced that they were not fully real but some kind of mental illusion.

"That's it," Rhea spoke encouragingly, resisting her own pain, "What you're seeing has not yet happened, but it is what she and others like her will do if we don't stop them at the source...at the ones who would spread their evil over the whole planet..."

"This...is what they mean to do to my family...my friends?" Muku declared, then all at once she felt her anger flare up gain into a full-fledge sense of outrage, "HOW COULD YOU! WHAT KIND OF A MONSTER WOULD DO THIS TO OTHER PEOPLE?"

"EH?" Nova reacted, "YOU'RE RESISTING ME? BUT...HOW...?"

Troi sensed the sudden upsurge in Iczelion levels as Muku's fighting spirit came to the fore, surprising even Rhea with the intensity of righteous fury unleashed by her partner. All at once that energy flowed into Gamma Theta, cutting off the sense of pain as self-repair functions were initiated within its biorganic structure. The giant Robot straightened up and fully faced its antagonist, and when Nova belatedly started to swing her sword forward it only caused the ocular visor points on the map to flare up brightly, and then Gamma Theta surged forward to intercept the arms that held the humongous broadsword.

"HOW DARE YOU!" Nova cried with a growing sense of alarm, "HOW...HOW CAN YOU BE DOING THIS...TO ME...?"

"Hey," Troi smiled, "Shit happens."

Muku's rage-induced fury caused her to ignore all other considerations as she twisted both of the wrists that she was gripping with a single hand, causing no end of pain to Nova through her link with the Iczer Omega, then all at once a giant foot lashed forward and Gamma Theta kicked Omega in the chest, doubling the other robot over as the shock was transferred to the controlling Iczer. A second kick picked it up and knocked Omega sprawling.

Muku cried out a massive "Ki" generated burst that caused her own capsule to vibrate in time with her outrage, and without pausing to think of what she was doing she drew her hands together and shaped a ball of Chi-energies between her fingers, compressing an incredible amount of energy into the sphere, then unleashing it at Omega as the latter started to get back up again, a force so terrifying that it caused those witnessing the whole affair to duck low behind cover and make the most of their present situation.

It was like a wave of intensive energies that lanced out at the enemy Robot as Muku released her pent up fury with the cry of, "YOU WON'T HURT MY FAMILY OR ANYONE ELSE EVER AGAIN!" and drove the Iczer Omega back on its heels until it collided with a major building and collapsed on top of it several hundred meters from when it had been standing. Iczer Gamma Sigma remained where it had been in position, arms still raised as Muku panted within her liquid environment, her anger not yet fully spent as she eyed the fallen robot with an intensity that would have been frightening to behold had anyone been able to see her face at that precise moment.

"Whoah," Sakura said at last, breaking the silence maintained by those half-  
hidden behind the rubble.

"Yeah," her father murmured, "My thoughts exactly."

Nova sat where she was in stunned disbelief as her mind tried to comprehend the impossible, her Iczer Omega so badly damaged that its chest cavity was hollowed out from within and all systems registering massive power failures that would surely lead to an explosion at any second. It was not until Troi appeared directly before her faceplate cabin that she visibly reacted, and only after Troi said, "And that's why you need a human partner. By the way, I'd get out of there if I were you, not that I'd expect you to listen to my opinion...niece."

Strangely enough, Nova did, snarling as she teleported herself to safety, just instants before the Iczer Omega went up like the mother of all firecrackers, leaving a mushroom cloud in its place while Troi heeded her own advice and got the hell away from the blast radius.

"Uh oh," Ukyo said.

"Everybody BRACE FOR COVER!" Ranma cried as he and the rest of the (present) non-combatants ducked down again, just as the hurricane-force winds kicked up by said blast washed over the area.

Troi reappeared beside Iczer Gamma Theta and said, "Congratulations, Kids, on your first official mission as partners. That was a hell of a wallop you packed there, Muku-chan. I had a feeling you'd come through if she got you angry."

Muku slowly calmed down from her intensely aroused state, glanced at the half-  
nude floating woman hovering beside her compartment, then at the swath of destruction she had just unleashed in one terrifyingly large Chi-burst, and promptly fainted, going to black from a combination of dismay and exhaustion.

"MUKU-CHAN!" Rhea reacted, sensing the thoughts of her partner fade out on her with such alarming suddenness that her fears were automatically triggered.

"She'll be all right, Niece," Troi replied, "She just needs some rest and some convalescence. She's just had one hell of a ride for the day...and the same goes for you. I think it's best if we get you both back to the cradle quick time."

Rhea acknowledged this even as the world resumed its normalcy, Subspace releasing them with the death of the enemy Iczer Robo and the retreat of its pilot. She then triggered the "return" function of her own unit and faded out from the spot before any inconvenient citizens could look up to see the robotic giant standing in their midst...or at lest see it for long enough not to think it had been an illusion.

Ranma and his family, plus students, all found themselves crouched behind the quite intact wall of a nearby building with the rest of the neighborhood looking very much as it had been before the melee had occurred.

"What the hell?" Yui was the first to acknowledge.

"Everything's back to normal," Ken remarked with a non-plussed expression.

"Including the Restaurant and Dojo," Perm observed as she peered from around the corner.

"You're kidding!" Yumi peered around to confirm this observation for herself.

"My place, our home!" Ukyo cried, "It's all better! We're not homeless!"

"That's a relief," Ranma heaved a sigh, "I thought our Insurance carrier would commit Seppuku after the last time."

"Tolja that stuff wasn't real," Tenma sniffed, "It was all some kind of fancy illusion.

"An illusion?" Sakura frowned, "I don't think so..."

"Close enough between illusion and reality that we came perilously close to meeting our end," Yui duly noted.

"You're all kind of right about that," said Troi, who appeared hovering overhead in her ruined outfit, "That was Subspace, a pocket dimension that exists in a Virtual Void that we C'thuwulf sometimes use to fight our battles. Nothing that happens there is real, except when it happens to us. The buildings you see are just shadows...but-fortunately enough-some shadows have substance and can kill, like your weapons in the dojo."

"Eh?" Ukyo felt behind her back and discovered that her baker's peel was no longer where she left it. Sakura made the same discovery, even as Yui was missing her umbrella.

"Oh, don't worry about your stuff," Troi hastily added, "It's back where you left it in the dojo, along with my stuff...um...which reminds me," she glanced down at her body, "Sorry about this...I guess I kind of owe for the gi..."

"Aw, that's nothing that don't happen all the time around here," Ranma smiled, only to wince as his wife smacked him along the side of the head, "Ow! What'd you do that for?"

"For getting a free peep show, you Hentai," Ukyo growled.

"Eh?" Ken took a really hard look at the floating woman and saw how much of her ample assets were...showing...or would have continued to do so if not for Sakura firmly placing a hand over his face.

"But what about Muku?" Yumi asked, not bothering to hide the fact that she was admiring the floating Iczer's rather substantial semi-nude body.

"Oh, she'll be all right," Troi said, rather belatedly covering over her privates, if only for a residual sense of modesty's sake, "Rhea-chan took her home to rest...you'll be seeing her soon enough once she's fully recovered."

"Fully...recovered?" Sakura cautiously repeated.

"How are you doing that?" Tenma asked, being the first one to ask the obvious question, "I mean...you can fly?"

"Like a bird, Kid," Troi winked, "Just one of my many talents."

"I can just imagine what some of the rest of them are," Yui grumbled, but by mutual consent the group decided to postpone any further questions until they could get back to the dojo and change, class being out of session by the mutual consent of both Sensei and students, though the demands for further explanation would most certainly be forthcoming...

Continue.

Comments/Criticisms/C'thuwulf Tourist Exchanges: shadowmane

Muku learns first hand that home is where the cradle is...at least when you're piloting an Iczer that's just been through a major battle. As the elder Iczers One and Two do battle, Muku learns first hand the truth about Rhea and her people and begins to comprehend why being a "partner" doesn't just mean you exchange phone numbers with these people. Be here with us next time for: "A Strained Twist of Fate," or "Meet the Parents, Daughter-in-Law To Be!" Be there!

X -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	11. Chapter 11

Earthchild11

The Earthchild

(A Ranma/Iczer Crossover)

by Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi &amp; Others)

Chapter Eleven.

There was no time for words, only actions, but time enough for Iczer Two to summon up her powers, calling forth a powerful battle aura that she turned into flaming fires that dissolved the strands that bound her Iczer, giving her additional time to teleport out of the way of the oncoming projectiles, reappearing directly behind the one who had fired them in the first place.

"WHAT?" the self-described Insect, who began to reorient on the changing position of its target.

"TOO SLOW!" Iczer Two declared as she launched a point-blank assault on the enemy Mecha, driving her own armored fist into Pseudo-chitinous hide with the fury of a Chi-burst, shattering the armor and effectively taking the giant robot out of commission.

Iczer One was only a little bit behind her sister in freeing herself from the entrapment of the golden fibers, slicing through them with an energy blade that she produced from within a gauntlet, then vanishing away before a salvo of heavy weapons fire could strike the place where she had been trapped, appearing once again to the opposing flank of the one who had fired those weapons, the heavily armored Golem.

"HOW CAN THIS BE?" Golem cried as she hastily erected her shields just in time to stave off being impaled on a mega-powered Beam Saber, "YOU SHOULD NOT BE ABLE TO TELEPORT WITHIN SUBSPACE...!"

"OBVIOUSLY YOUR INFORMATION ABOUT US IS BADLY OUT OF DATE," Iczer One relayed, falling back into a defensive crouch, "OR ELSE YOU WOULD NOT EXPECT TREACHERY AND SURPRISE TO TAKE THE BOTH OF US DOWN SO EASILY."

"YOU WON'T ESCAPE ME AGAIN!" Fiber cried as she unleashed yet more of her deadly cables, only to find her targets more elusive than ever, appearing and disappearing with a suddenness that seemed, even for an Iczer unit, to become like magic.

"I ADVISE YOU TO DESIST IN THIS ENDEAVOR," Iczer Two suddenly remarked as Unit Beta appeared directly behind the Mecha commanded by Fiber, "OR I WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT HAPPENS."

In response to this Fiber tried to spin her deadly cables to engulf the offending Iczer from behind, but Two was much too quick for her again and vanished from the target zone, causing those cables to overshoot and ensnare Fiber's own Mecha in their smothering embrace.

"Toldja!" Sayoko beamed when she and her partner reappeared in a different location.

"Some people never do get it," Iczer Two sighed with a smile that was more than faintly ironic.

Golem was under assault as Iczer One's powerful Iczer Alpha launched blow after blow against her shields and armored defenses, pressing her hard and forcing her to give ground. All at once the beast-like Bigro tried to position herself behind Iczer Alpha's blind side in order to come up on her in a rush, intending to trap her enemy within a pincer position that would give her wicket barbed tail a decided advantage.

But at the last instant Iczer Alpha moved out of the way of Bigro's lunge and fell into a rapid leg-sweep that knocked the monster's balance centers for a loop, tumbling her into Golem's energy field and diminishing its effectiveness as the two giants struggled to regain their bearings, even as Iczer Alpha righted itself and summoned up her energies for an all-out attack.

"FULL POWER, NAGISA-CHAN!" Iczer One cried out.

"Ready Partner!" Nagisa cried as she summoned her energies, harnessing her emotional reserves of anger, outrage, protectiveness and devotion as she charged the giant Iczer's reserves with levels of energy that far surpassed enemy estimates of her potential.

Golem and Bigro barely had time to cry out their dismay before they were caught within the blast radius of an obscenely powerful energy burst that engulfed both of their Mecha. For a moment the area in a wide radius before Iczer Alpha was obscured by a blindingly bright inferno, as if a solar flare had been transported to the Earth, bathing everything it touched in searing white energies against which armor and flesh were no match to its cleansing inferno.

When at last the flames subsided there were two badly charred and blackened husks in the place where the Mecha had been situated. Even Fiber's unit was badly scorched by the peripheral effect of the overwhelming onslaught, while Iczer Two-who had wisely situated her Beta unit beyond the reach of the flames-was prompted to comment, "Not too bad, but a little excessive, don't you think, dear sister?"

"Not when you consider what they were planning for us and our partners, Two," Iczer One replied, "I noticed that you didn't waste any time dealing with the one who had threatened Sayoko."

"Is there any wonder to that?" Iczer Two replied, "No one threatens Sayoko-chan without paying a high price, and these fools are just as annoying as they were when I faced their leader down during our last encounter."

"Geez, these guys were pathetic!" Sayoko herself remarked, "Did they really give Troi such a hard time fifteen years back?"

"Well, she was rather inexperienced at the time..." Iczer One reluctantly conceded.

"Not to mention half-baked, half-done and half-fried," Iczer Two sourly noted, "Not that she's improved much in the years since then."

"But you still like her anyway," Nagisa teased, "And you have to admit that she did pretty good for someone who'd only just been released from her incubator."

"I acknowledge that you both must have been desperate to rely on that unfinished havoc maker against the likes of these losers," Iczer Two observed, only to have her focus reorient back towards the ruined hulks with a startled, "Eh?"

"Huh?" Sayoko followed her partner's shift in attention and said, "Hey...I'm picking up movement within those wrecked Mecha..."

"Is it possible?" Nagisa asked, "Could they have actually survived the destruction of their Mecha?"

"It figures," Sayoko sighed, "Bad Guys never have the sense to quit when they've taken a licking..."

"That's funny," Iczer Two remarked, "I remember from my time as a villain thinking the same thing about you Heroes. I guess bad pennies really do turn up where you least want them as well..."

"Be ready," Iczer One cautioned, "They may have taken a beating but that doesn't mean that they are out of the fight just yet."

"That's also in the Union rules," Nagisa smiled, "I guess we'll just have to give them a double dose of what we showed them the last time."

As these words were spoken the wreckage of the three destroyed Mecha stirred as three very different feminine forms forced their way out of the burned out ruins, emerging into the light, staggering and exhausted looking but otherwise quite intact and ready to do battle.

"Damn you all!" Golem snarled, favoring one arm, "You haven't destroyed us yet..."

"We live to conquer, and while we live you will not vanquish us again," Insect rumbled.

"You will pay for destroying my lovely X!" Bigro declared, "I curse the day that ever spawned you miserable Iczers!"

"Geez, will you put a sock on it already?" Sayoko growled, "Not more of this campy dialogue already, you're giving me an ear-ache!"

"I'm with you," Nagisa agreed, "You guys lure us into a trap, attempt to ambush us, then get your buts royally kicked and it's supposed to be all our fault? Give me a break already!"

"We are in complete agreement on this," Iczer One affirmed, "You are defeated and overwhelmed with no chance at all for victory. Surrender now and we will allow you to live, but persist on attacking us and you'll be destroyed, just as you were the last time you faced my sisters."

"That I guarantee," Iczer Two agreed, "My sister is offering you the only mercy you will find, which is more than you deserve. Refuse her and you will face our combined wrath, and I will be just as stern with you as I was the last time, Golem-san."

"Dammit," Golem growled, "We need time to recover our strength..."

"Shit," Insect spat, "All our power was spent generating our personal forcefields...we have nothing to attack with..."

"We must do something," Bigro swore, "If not, then the consequences for us will be unthinkable..."

"THEY ARE ALREADY UNTHINKABLE, MY WRETCHED EXCUSES FOR SERVANTS!" a thunderous voice announced as a new figure took shape in the air above their heads, "AND YOU HAVE EMBARRASSED ME BEFORE MY MOTHER FOR THE VERY LAST TIME!"

"That voice...!" Iczer One shuddered.

"I know that sound well," Iczer Two gritted.

"Neos?" Nagisa asked in appalled wonder.

"What?" Sayoko blinked, "That's Neos?"

"No!" Golem cried out as she stared up at the serpentine figure hovering over their heads, "Master Neos! We haven't lost yet! Give us one more chance!"

"NO MORE CHANCES FOR YOU THREE," the booming voice of the figure declared, "THIS WAS YOUR ONE AND ONLY CHANCE TO JUSTIFY MY MOTHER RAISING YOU FROM THE GRAVE, AND NOW IT IS TIME TO CONSIGN YOU WORTHLESS HEAPS BACK TO THE SCRAP HEAP WHERE I FOUND YOU!"

An energy bolt lanced down from the looming presence that was Neos Gold and engulfed the three cowering Bioroids in its horrible radiance. Iczers One and Two instinctively raised their shields to full and braced their Iczer Robos against the peripheral effect of this onslaught, but then the radiance died, leaving three smoldering corpses lying amid the ashes of their utterly destroyed Mecha.

Unseen by anyone else during this matter, a fourth figure picked her way out of the damaged cockpit of her half-destroyed Mecha, placing one hand to her forehead as if to confirm that it was still in an intact condition, only to flinch in dismay as she felt the wave of death washing over her, and she turned her head in time to see a too-familiar glow dying down from the hovering form of a womanly shape connected to the body of a dragon.

"No..." she whispered in dismay, "Not again..."

"SO I REWARD FAILURE BY DESTROYING DEFECTIVE TRASH SUCH AS THESE!" Neos Gold declared, "IT WAS A MISTAKE EVEN TO RAISE THEM FROM THE DEAD, BUT THEY SERVED THEIR USEFULNESS BY ACTING AS CONVENIENT TARGETS."

"What did that accomplish, Neos?" Iczer One demanded with obvious loathing in her voice.

"It's it obvious enough, Sister?" Iczer Two growled, "They were never a serious threat to any of us...Neos used them to lure us out so that they could test our powers, the better for her to gauge our relative strength compared with those defective models."

"PRECISELY," Neos declared, "THEY SHOWED US HOW STRONG YOU BOTH ARE WHEN LINKED WITH YOUR PARTNERS. THIS INFORMATION WILL SERVE US WELL WHEN THE REAL BATTLE SHALL BEGIN. WE WILL NOT UNDERESTIMATE YOU THE NEXT TIME, I ASSURE YOU!"

"No..." Fiber gasped in dismay, "Is that all we are to her...all we ever meant...?"

"You use your underlings as pawns to determine how strong we are...or how strong you think we are," Iczer Two said levelly, "I see that I was right about you all along...you are cold and manipulative as that virus you call your mother..."

"ICZER TWO," Neos responded, "SUCH INGRATITUDE AS YOU SHOWED ME FOR RESTORING YOU TO LIFE, I CAN HARDLY EXPECT ANY BETTER REGARD FROM YOU NOW, YOU TRAITOR..."

"I was never a traitor to you," Iczer Two snarled, "I was never on your side to begin with, nor did I ask you to revive me from my sleep, and as for Big Gold herself...!"

"That's enough, Sister," Iczer One said harshly, "We all know what scum born of scum this gutter trash is...and you were right not to trust her lies before as you can see what the reward is for those who loyally serve her foulness."

"YOU BOTH CAN TALK BIG NOW THAT YOU THINK YOU ARE THE VICTORS," Neos taunted, 'BUT WHEN NEXT WE MEET YOU WILL KNOW REGRET THAT YOU OPPOSED OUR RIGHTEOUS CAUSE! FAREWELL!"

With that a blazing light surrounded the form of Neos Gold, and Fiber suddenly shook off her lethargy and vaulted from her ruined Mecha, surrounding herself in protective weaving as she faded out from subspace, just instants before a searing blast disintegrated what was left of her unit.

And then Neos was gone, just as suddenly as she had arrived, leaving both Iczers and partners to sort out the aftermath of a very strange encounter.

"Well," Sayoko sighed once again, "At least now we know where those creeps picked it up from."

"I'd say like mother like offspring," Iczer Two remarked, "But Big Gold never talked like that. Of course she did have her faults...she snored something awful..."

"I'm glad someone is keeping a sense of humor about this," Nagisa remarked, "But what about those Bioroids? Are we really going to leave them in a place like this?"

"Eh?" Iczer One replied, staring down at the spot where the smoldering remains of Neos Gold's dead henchwomen lay as they had fallen, badly blackened yet still discernable human in their outlines. Iczer One thought a moment then said, "I see...I think I understand what you are suggesting, Nagisa-chan..."

"Eh?" Iczer Two responded in surprise, "You're not serious, are you, Sister?"

"Hoy," Sayoko sighed, "This is sure turning out to be one of those days, eh, Partner?"

The crimson haired Iczer heaved a sign of resignation and replied, "I just know what Troi would say if she were here..."

"Another set of strays to bring home," Iczer One answered for her, "Perhaps it is a ploy by Neos, but we have to take the chance if it means learning more about our adversaries."

"You know I'm right about this," Nagisa mused, "And besides...don't you feel just a little bit sorry for them, being betrayed like this by the one they trusted?"

"Not particularly," Iczer Two answered, "But then again, curiosity always was my weakness, so I guess it's worth the intelligence data we might be able to gather."

"I see reeeeaaaallll trouble coming from this," Sayoko dissented, but reluctantly agreed to the enterprise, and so they pooled their energies and formed a ring around their fallen foes before teleporting back to central...

The news from central command was grim, far worse than even imagined. Captain Reika Solinar stood before the projected image of the High Guard Central Command representative and said in a trembling voice, "You...are certain about this? There is no other way?"

The other female officer shook her head from side to side and said sadly, "There is not. We have gone over the data files time and again and the results are the same each time. We will lose this war if matters continue as they have been. Already we have lost our homeworld and three fifths of our people to the genocide that both sides are practicing upon one another. At this rate it will not matter who emerges victorious in the end, both sides will be doomed to mutual extinction."

"But...surely the Admiralty must see this..." Reika plaintively reasoned.

"The Admiralty is like the High Command itself," the other officer replied, "Trapped in the past with no conception of a future without war. They are willing to sacrifice everyone and everything in the name of victory, but the price for their obsession will be our very survival as a race. The High Command is more machine than human now...they live for nothing else but the enemy's total destruction..."

"Only we will be destroying ourselves if this plan of theirs goes through," Reika replied, "Madness!"

"That is why you must carry out your new instructions...to insure our race's survival," the other woman said, "There are elements within the High Guard who seek to avoid the doom of our people, and they have quietly banded together to insure that we do not completely erase ourselves from the history of this planet, which is why we have selected you, Captain, to carry out this most important of all missions."

"I am ready to do my part," Reika affirmed, "Tell me what I must do...?"

"First of all, you must ignore any commands from the Admiralty directing you to join the main fleet at the rendezvous point where they plan to stage their final battle," the other woman grimly directed, "You have been assigned a carrier task force nominally for the purpose of scouting out new enemy positions, but in a short while an error will occur in the main data banks of Central changing your status from active to inactive, with an accompanying explanation that you met hostile fire and were totally annihilated, which means that Central will not be after you nor send coded instructions to override your command of this vessel."

"I...understand," Reika responded soberly, "You wish to erase all trace of our continuing existence."

"Precisely," her superior acknowledged, "You will then go to the following coordinates and establish a temporary base there. From that point on you will be left to your own recognizance, and we are relying upon you to safeguard the ships within your task force as you search for a suitable planet that will serve as a new homeworld."

"A new...homeworld?" Reika blinked, "Can this be accomplished?"

"It can," the other woman nodded in affirmation, "Every member of your fleet has been carefully selected for their qualified skills in various essential technical and cultural areas that you will need in order to establish a thriving colony. If necessary, you can terraform a planet that you designate suitable for life and convert it into a thriving biosphere, much as we accomplished on Chaos. With the enemy mostly destroyed there will be time enough for you to build back from the ashes of our destruction. Your crew has the genetic diversity needed to create a thriving bionome that will last for generations yet to come..."

"Generations yet to come?" Reika stared at the other woman's image in disbelief.

"That is the other secret that you are to safeguard," her superior spoke in tones that conveyed the deep significance of what she was about to reveal, "Before the destruction of homeworld, we had Generators spirited away in the hopes of being able to restart our dwindling population. Those devices are on your ship at this very moment, with the extra materials that you will need to create more just like them. With these Generators you will be able to create new life and perpetuate our species...that is why all hope for the future rests with you and our people, Captain Reika of the Raging Wolf. Do not fail us...for if the rest of our people must face the certain extermination of our kind, at least some of us will die knowing that our race will live on...through you and your progeny for centuries, even millennia into the future!"

Reika saluted her superior and said, "I...fully understand what you are saying, Captain Nebulart. It will be as you ask of me...I swear it will be so...I not fail you or the Solnoid people..."

"Muku-chan...are you feeling any better?"

"Eh?" Muku started, coming out of her dream with a suddenness that caused her to blink in dismay, wondering just what she had been thinking a moment ago, and what it all meant, that strange experience of being someone else...a Starship captain serving aboard an alien vessel...

"I'm sorry...you were dreaming, Muku-chan," came Rhea's gentle voice again, "I did not mean to disturb you, but...it was so intense that I wanted to ask you...was this real or something you only now remember?"

Muku fully opened her eyes and glanced around, wanting to ask Rhea where she was and why she still seemed to be hearing her inside her head, only when full consciousness dawned upon her she came to the rather startling discovery that she was once again floating in amazingly breathable fluid of before, just as naked as she had been when she lost consciousness, only this time she was not alone and that there were others standing outside of her capsule working with a bewilderingly complex set of controls, and all of them were women wearing strange form-fitting costumes of white and magenta.

"Huh?" she blinked as she glanced around, "Where the heck am I..."

One of the technicians glanced up then smiled at her and said, "Ah...you're awake at last. I noticed some unusual mental activity, but I took it to be merely a REM state."

"Who...are you?" Muku asked of the surprisingly friendly technician.

"I am called Sister Silver," she replied, "A Medical Technician...and that is Sister Argent. I suppose we are what you might call your doctors..."

"Doctors?" Muku blinked, "Am I sick or something?"

"No," the one named Argent replied as she turned away from her own relays, "Merely exhausted, and the Regenerator has taken care of that. We understand you had quite an experience, your first time in actual battle..."

"In...battle?" as Muku spoke the words she had a sudden image of the fight between herself, Rhea and the enemy Robot, then shuddered in apprehension, "That-that was real...?"

"As real as life gets," Silver replied, "Now, I suppose you'd like to get out of there and get dressed in some suitable clothing, yes?"

"Clothing?" Muku reflexively covered herself as best she could with her hands, which seemed to only amuse the two female Med Techs, who'd had more than enough time to "scope her out" anyway, which did little to comfort Muku's strained sense of modesty now.

Sister Silver passed a hand over her control console and all at once the capsule drained of fluid, leaving Muku to cough and sputter a moment as she double over, seeing to empty her lungs of the last traces of the substance. Silver did something else and the feeling of choking went away, replaced by a surprisingly vigorous sense of well being on Muku's part, leaving her feeling fresh and alive enough to kick major butt, if she had any such aggressive inclinations at the moment.

The capsule hatch hissed open and Sister Argent offered Muku a hand, not to mention an armload of fresh garments that she offered to Muku, who reluctantly accepted them as she stepped naked from the capsule. Seeing as there was no handy changing room on hand, she slipped on a rather snug-fitting dress made from some curious polymer substance or other, yet which felt oddly comfortable and came complete with a fresh set of panties and other undergarments.

Once dressed in something that was (at least by comparison) appropriately modest, she reached up to feel her hair, only to discover that it was not moist but rather felt luxurious and clean, which had to be yet another weird side-  
effect caused by that miracle fluid. She next turned to the technicians and asked, "Where is Rhea-chan?"

"Your partner?" Argent seemed curiously amused as she passed a hand over the control station once again, and then a hiss of pneumatic pressure being exchanged cause a wide cylinder to slide down and reveal a second capsule, nearly identical to the one Muku had been inhabiting before, and there-  
hovering in fluid-was a fully naked Rhea, suspended like a specimen in formaldehyde, and yet somehow radiating abundant health through the translucent wall of her capsule.

"She's quite well, and almost eighty-three percent recovered," Silver explained, "She took even worse punishment than you did in the battle, but she's coming along nicely."

Muku stared in perversely fascinated wonder, touching the surprisingly warm capsule with a hand as she gazed at the beautiful form of Rhea Kano, taking in the amazing sight of near-perfect elvish beauty with Rhea seeming to drift in a state of sleep only inches away from Muku's touch as the human girl took in each curve and nuance of her entirely feminine body.

"What...is she?" Muku asked after a pause that lasted several very long moments.

"A Bioroid, although technically you could call her a hybrid," someone new replied, "Though I prefer to call her my daughter."

"Who?" Muku half-turned in time to see a short-haired woman of medium height approach her from the sidelines, a beautiful adult who had curious pink markings around one eye, like a tattoo or an emblem of some nature.

"I'm Kano Nagisa," she explained with a polite bow, "Cultural Attach and Human Ambassador to the C'thuwulf people, Advisor to the Protector and co-pilot of the Iczer Robo Alpha...but, if you'd like, I'd much prefer if you would call me...Mother."

"Mother?" Muku blinked, surprised to notice in passing that there was a curious resemblance between this woman and her own mother, Akane.

"Well...Mother-in-law, at any event," Nagisa responded, giving Rhea an affectionate look, "Magnificent, isn't she? The product of a union between two worlds and two very different beings like myself and her mother..."

"Um...excuse me?" Muku blinked, "But you just said...?"

"That Rhea-chan is a Bioroid, which is a fancy way of saying that she is an Android, though not in the sense that you might be thinking."

"An...Android?" Muku turned an incredulous look upon the floating girl, unable to fully grasp that she was that much removed from a human.

"What I mean to say is that my daughter is an artificially created being, the product of an alien science many light-years ahead of our own, but in no sense of the word is she any less of a person. She is not a robot...there are no mechanical bits floating around inside her body. Rhea-chan is as much alive as either you or me, and half of the DNA that comprises her internal makeup comes from me. She is one hundred percent Biorganic...it is just that the chemical compounds that comprise her body are of a somewhat different nature than ordinary human protoplasm."

"You mean...she's alive?" Muku swallowed.

"Very much alive," Nagisa winked, "And fully aware of us at this very moment. She is my daughter in every sense of the word that truly matters...I just didn't have to go through the somewhat messy process of carrying her inside my body for nine months. In other words, she is a half-human hybrid grown as a test tube baby, which is the natural C'thuwulf process."

"C'thuwulf?" Muku swallowed, "What...who are they?"

"Ah," Nagisa chuckled, "That is the question. Come with me and I'll try to answer that one."

Muku reluctantly allowed herself to be drawn away from the side of Rhea, who only seemed to open her eyes to watch them go as Nagisa led the way from the laboratory-like setting. They entered a narrow corridor that was brightly illuminated yet somehow unearthly in nature.

"The thing to keep in mind about C'thuwulf technology is that they are as far beyond gears, pulleys, wires, circuits and diodes as we're beyond rubbing two sticks together in order to create a fire," Nagisa began to explain, "Their technology is mostly organic in nature...they don't need mechanical devices in the sense that we think of such things as advanced. They tend to grow their machines in incubators and shape the DNA structure of whatever they need to suit a given complex set of functions. It's really quite amazing when you study the process, as I have."

"But you're...from Earth?" Muku hesitated.

"I'm as much a citizen of the planet as you are," Nagisa replied as they emerged out into a more brightly illuminated chamber, "But I've lived among the C'thuwulf for the past ten years and consider myself as having dual citizenship...while the C'thuwulf-as you no doubt suspect-are from somewhere else in the galaxy, an alien race-very similar to us-who have evolved on another world, only to immigrate to this planet in order to create the wonders you see before you."

Muku gasped as she stared out of a balcony-like terrace to see a city unfolding before her...a city unlike anything Muku had ever seen in her life, being largely a child of the Tokyo suburbs. The skyline was beautiful in the way that it framed the city's outline in start relief, a beautiful post-sunset with a starscape appearing just over the horizon.

"What is...that?" Muku gasped.

"New Gamora," Nagisa replied, "A city I helped to found, based on C'thuwulf technology. This is the Earth base of the C'thuwulf Colonial program, inhabited by close to one million inhabitants, the refugees of their long-lost homeworld."

"A city...filled with aliens...on the Earth?" Muku tried to take it all in but found her mind did not fully grasp the concept, "But...where on Earth..."

"Not on the Earth," Nagisa said, "But under it...or-to be more precise-one mile underneath Tokyo City proper, very close to the Nerima prefecture that is your home province."

"What?" Muku blinked, "But...those stars...the sky..."

"Illusions projected against the dome-like ceiling that surrounds the place," Nagisa explained, "Timed to match the actual sky directly over our heads in the real Tokyo. This cavern is huge, and yet the strangest thing is that it existed before the C'thuwulf discovered it ten years ago. No one knows who truly made it, but it is structurally reinforced and as solid as C'thuwulf science can make it..."

"And it's been here all this time...ten years?" Muku said in disbelieving tones, "No way!"

"I would have said the same thing myself when I first learned about the C'thuwulf," Nagisa smiled, "But they're not invaders, Senzenen-san. They're here with the full knowledge and support of the Japanese government..."

"They are?" Muku whirled to stare at the older woman.

"Yes," Nagisa nodded, "As part of a larger program to fortify the Earth defenses."

"To fortify...the Earth?" Muku repeated slowly, attempting to grasp this particular subject.

Nagisa studied the other girl's expression, then smiled warmly and said, "Come with me this way...I can see you need time to reflect on things, and it is an awful lot to absorb at one time. You've had quite a few shocks in a very short interval, and I'm not so jaded these days that I've completely forgotten what that was like when I first met Rhea-chan's mother..."

"When you...met...?" Muku head began to whirl again, trying to comprehend this stunning revelation on top of all the others. She found herself going unresisting along with the suggestions of the other woman, and before too long found herself guided to a sauna and hot springs area adjacent to the building that housed all of the technical equipment.

When Muku realized where they were she gasped, "An Onsen...?"

"I find that I always think better when I'm relaxed and in a comfortable environment," Nagisa smiled as she undid her belt and started to remove her upper top, "Care to join me in a bath? I promise I won't do anything your parents would not approve of."

"Nani?" Muku blinked, then saw the affectionate smile the other woman paid her and nervously replied, "Uh...well..."

A few minutes later she found herself stripped down naked and scrubbing the back of the older Nagisa, amazed at how natural it felt to be doing this with a total stranger, just as she might have done with her own mother, and a stranger who had just admitted to being in a relationship with an alien that was altogether...unusual...and more than a little bit disturbing.

"Ah, you have good hands," Nagisa commented, causing Muku to blush for some inexplicable reason, "Rhea-chan chose well...and you remind me so much of myself twenty years ago, when I was but a mere child of fourteen..."

"I...you what?" Muku blinked.

"Let me tell you a little story," Nagisa said, "A true one, I assure you...about a young girl, much like yourself, who was on her way to school one day when she encountered a very strange person...a girl...almost a phantom, and looking like something out of a dream. How was I to know then that she would turn out to be the most important person in my life, even more than my own parents."

Muku inhaled a sharp breath, hearing her own situation described to a "T," but with very disturbing...implications...

"Before I knew it I was suddenly involved in overwhelming events the likes of which I could not have imagined," Nagisa continued, "My friends were attacked and turned into monsters, my parents became twisted things that tried to consume me, and they died because my enemies chose to attack me through them. And then, before I even had time to recover from my grief over their loss, I was drawn into the Iczer Robo and made a part of some battle for which I had absolutely no preparation."

Muku backed away, hearing her situation described with absolute and uncanny perfection...only she reminded herself belatedly that the attacks on her friends and parents had been some sort of an illusion.

"I didn't understand what was going on," Nagisa went on as though unaware of the younger girl's reactions, "There was no time to hear the explanation about how the Earth had been drawn into a war by an evil menace that commanded Venomoids and Voids in a plot to conquer and oppress the very planet I called home. Only one person had the strength and courage to stand up to the menace that her own people had become, and that was my partner...Iczer One...Rhea's mother."

"Iczer...One?" Muku blinked, then added, "Rhea's...mother...?"

"Well, perhaps father would be the more accurate term here," Nagisa chuckled, "Other significant biological parent would be yet another term, but yes...she and I share a bond that is stronger than life, stronger than death, and together we toppled the evil that was Big Gold and saved the entire planet. Of course this was really in another life, a world parallel to our own, but one I remember as vividly as if it happened last week rather than twenty-odd years in the past. It all changed when Big Gold was defeated...Iczer One changed it, made it so all those terrible things had never happened, not to us, not to the C'thuwulf and not to my friends and family"

"W-What do you mean...it never happened?" Muku blinked.

"I'm not entirely sure I know all the details myself," Nagisa replied, "I don't think anyone truly does, even Iczer One. At the time she was operating on a level of existence far beyond anyone's comprehension, and that made things seem easy that would stun the imagination of people such as you and me. All I know is that she did it using my strength to fortify her through the process of Synchronization..."

"Synchronization?" Muku repeated, recalling that word from Rhea's earlier employment.

"Yes," Nagisa said, "The total mind and body integration in which a human bonds with an Iczer to achieve levels of power and awareness far beyond that which either of them is capable of individually. And Iczer-before you ask-is a living transducer of spiritual and emotional power, capable to transforming raw emotional and spiritual energies into a force that is indescribable. That is what an Iczer was made for...to bond with a human and become something extraordinary."

"But you're saying that she's still effectively...an Android," Muku hesitated before adding, "Does that mean that they're still...like...a real person?"

Nagisa turned around and smiled, giving Muku a friendly look that conveyed much deeper meaning, "My Iczer One is very much real to me...and so is my daughter. They may have been created by alien science, but they live, breathe love and care for people like you and me, and they bleed for us sometimes, just as Rhea-  
chan bled for you the first time she defended you against the Venomoid menace."

"Um..." Muku felt ashamed of her own question, yet still she felt compelled to ask, "You talk about her like she's...your wife, or...something strange like that..."

"Why is it so strange to you?" Nagisa asked, "I love her as I would a husband. She is my wife, my...partner...in every significant thing that you could expect from a marriage, and after ten years together..."

"Ten years?" Muku blurted, "But...you've been...with her for ten years? Then...how old is Rhea?"

"A bit...less than that," Nagisa shrugged, "But she is very mature for her age, I assure you, and we have tried to give her as close to a normal childhood as we could allow, given that she takes so much after her father-mother. We've been a very close family unit since the day that she emerged from her incubation chamber...physically about six or so, but now she is close to sixteen, which makes her physically comparable to your own age group."

"But...she's less than ten years old?" Muku blanched, "You mean I'm seeing someone who's old enough to be in grade school?"

"Such things don't really compare for her, but I...suppose you could see it that way," Nagisa conceded, "Is it important?"

"Ah...well..." Muku hesitated.

Nagisa stood up then reached out a hand to Muku, who reluctantly took it as the older woman guided her to the bench, then insisted she sit while Nagisa took her turn washing the other girl's back.

"You're going to have to make up your mind about a few things," Nagisa said, "If you want to survive what's about to come. I've been where you are now, I know what your options are. It's understandable if you have any reluctance or doubts about being involved in any of this. I certainly never imagined myself being where I am today when I was a young girl like you getting partnered up with an Iczer."

"But...how do you cope with it?" Muku asked as she felt the older woman's soft hands work over her skin, cleansing off difficult-to-reach portions of her body, "The craziness, the insanity of it all...and those monsters...!"

"How do you expect me to answer that?" Nagisa countered, "You do what you have to in order to survive. There's not a lot of wiggle room to be had now that the enemy knows about you and what you can do in a battle. You can't run, you can't hide, and the only way you can protect anyone is by standing firm and doing what you can to resist the evil. I've tried the running away and cowering in fear part and I can tell you it definitely bites. The only time I've ever been able to hold my head high is when I've confronted my problems and met them on directly."

"You, Kano-san?" Muku asked.

"Oh yes," Nagisa chuckled, then reached down and picked up the water pail and dumped it over Muku's astonished head as per the traditional methods for ritual cleaning. As Muku began to sputter she refilled the bucket and poured more water over herself, then shook her hair and flexed her arms to revel in the sensation. Setting down her bucket she turned to Muku and said, "Shall we warm ourselves up now? I think you should be relaxed when you hear the rest of what I have to tell you."

"Um...hai," Muku meekly replied, and soon the both of them were submerged in the hot springs, enjoying the soothing sensation of the mineral-enriched waters.

"Now then," Nagisa began again after a few minutes of soaking in the invigorating richness of the Onsen waters, "To answer more of those questions you've yet to ask...the C'thuwulf come from a distant star-system located thousands of light years in another part of this galaxy. Their actual origins are somewhat obscured by myth and legend, but it is basically believed that they are the remnants of a once great star culture that flourished in this part of space close to a half a million years ago, when they first settled on a planet they named C'thuwulf, after a legendary ship said to have carried their ancestors..."

"C'thuwulf?" Muku repeated, having a curious stirring of memories summoned up in her dreams, "A half a million years ago...?"

"That is believed to be the time of their founding," Nagisa resumed, "They were the survivors of a great war that raged throughout the galaxy, a war that ended the very civilization that originally spawned them. For half a million years their colony saw many great rises and falls over a history ten times more rich and detailed than even the Earth's recorded history, up until the most recent rise which saw their culture flourish into an era of peace and artistic prosperity unlike anything ever dreamed up in our most Utopian fantasies...an amazing achievement when you consider that they have achieved all of this without the contributions of the male of the species..."

"Say what?" Muku blinked.

"The C'thuwulf," Nagisa explained, "Are a female-only race...there are no men at all in their society, nor have there ever been throughout the whole of their civilization."

"No men?" Muku blinked again, "But...how can they...?"

"Oh, they reproduce through Parthenogenesis," Nagisa answered, "They use gestation tubes as a kind of artificial uterus, and they can grow new citizens to replace their numbers as needed."

"You mean...like cloning?" Muku suggested.

"No," Nagisa replied, "With cloning you sometimes get replication errors, and over time the process of constantly cloning from the same basic matrix leads to a slow and gradual attenuation of the genome. What the C'thuwulf do is combine the genetic material from two distinctive parents to create a child that has half the half the chromosomes of each parents...thus two women become the co-  
mothers of the child, and the child is raised by them within the loving environment of a stable family unit..."

"Say WHAT?" Muku blurted.

"That's right," Nagisa winked at her, "Since there are only women in their society, the C'thuwulf naturally assume that female bonding is the most natural kind in the world. It's taken entirely for granted here, and no one thinks that there is anything wrong about it. For a woman to love another woman is seen as natural, not perverted, while what we humans do with having sex with men is considered unnatural and unwholesome. It really all depends on how you look on things, and from what perspective."

Muku had a flash of the silver haired Troi, then blanched when she remembered the outrageous way the older girl had been flirting with her friends Yui and Sakura.

"Have I shocked you already?" Nagisa asked, "I'm sorry...it's just that I've been living among the C'thuwulf for so long that I've come to adopt many of their ways and customs. At one time I would have felt the same way you no doubt do now...that heterosexuality is the only acceptable way in which two people should have a child together. I really cannot blame you if you find the idea of a female-dominant society that reproduces artificially repellant..."

"Ah...I didn't say I found it...repellant," Muku swallowed, "But...I guess it is a little...disturbing..."

"Indeed," Nagisa sighed, sinking down to her neck in the water, "And many C'thuwulf find it just as disturbing that we even have men in our world, which they regard as if they were deformed women, especially having what amounts to an elongated clitoris. There was quite a bit of culture shock in the old days when we were just establishing this colony...more than a few radicals were dead set against having anything to do with the people of Terra. In fact, some had originally been set on conquering our world and imposing their rule upon us...but that came to an end once a consensus was reached. Now we have a rule that allows certain volunteers to travel freely to and from the human world while those who prefer their relative isolation can live here in New Gamora and not feel any pressure from outside."

"But why are they here to begin with, Kano-san?" Muku asked, "If they were so advanced on their home planet..."

"That...is a truly tragic story," Nagisa sighed, "As I had implied, their technology is highly advanced, but it also proved to have great weaknesses that made it subject to penetration. An enemy power existing outside of normal time and space...call it a Demon force, if you will...planted its seed in the great Central Computer of their homeworld and corrupted it, opening the way for the Venomoids to penetrate into our region of space. It was the time when Iczer One lost her first partner..."

"Her first...partner?" Muku replied, "She had a partner before you?"

Nagisa stared down at the water and looked sad, "She never talks about it, but I pieced the story together a long time ago. Basically, Iczer One was a prototype of a new form of defensive system, one so advanced that her powers were calculated to be enormous. It was at the height of their prosperity that the C'thuwulf hardly even needed a defensive force, so they chose to invest in her the role of their Protector. Their military had been somewhat resentful about this, but it was agreed to be for the best that their society rely less on warfare for its survival. There were, after all, many other hostile powers in the Universe who could have taken advantage of the C'thuwulf if they totally did away with military force..."

"And Iczer One was their answer?" Muku deduced.

"A brilliant one, as it turned out," Nagisa smiled, "Well beyond anything that her creators had ever envisioned. Iczer One, you see, is an immensely powerful construct, as well as being a living person with a mind and a conscience. Of course to fully implement her powers she needed to be bonded with another person...a C'thuwulf who was designated to be her partner, from whom she could draw strength and energy when required. But then the disaster struck and the enemy Virus infected their systems..."

"But it didn't affect her?" Muku guessed.

"Because her link to her partner made Iczer One, effectively, a fully independent system," Nagisa noted, "One all but impervious to corruption. She managed to fight off the infection, but at great cost to the C'thuwulf society, and their central computers self-destructed after releasing a prototype Symbiont that eventually became known as Big Gold. The Venomoid menaces destroyed most of their world before the infection was halted, but in the war to cleanse their world Iczer One's original partner died. She carries in her a great sadness ever since this happened, and I know for a fact that her heart was badly broken."

Muku felt something stir within her at this point in the story, not having even met this mysterious construct before, yet somehow imagining what it was like to know such loss and deprivation, "H-How did it happen?"

"I'm not too sure of the details," Nagisa answered soberly, "But I suspect it was the very prosperity of their culture that ultimately doomed her partner. The C'thuwulf had been at peace for so many generations that only their warrior caste even remembered how to fight, and mostly that was done in simulations. Iczer One's partner had been unable to muster the levels of emotional drive that could have spared them both greater losses...and she didn't have enough of the intuitive will to live that we humans carry within us from our many centuries of struggling for survival. In short she just did not prove adequate to the task for which shortcoming she died...and because she and Iczer One were soul-bonded, my wife has ever since felt as though a major portion of herself died that day. It's tended to make her a bit overly fanatic about protecting me, her current partner..."

"But can an Iczer function without a partner?" Muku asked.

"Troi can," Nagisa replied, "Though she isn't too happy about the fact that she's partnerless, and at one time she had been linked to me as my partner. You see...after Big Gold was destroyed by Iczer One, she set about seeking to lead the C'thuwulf to a new homeworld, only to discover that Gold had spread more progeny to other worlds, and that these residual programs were proving troublesome amid the civilized worlds they infested. Neos Gold was one of the worst of these virus-spawned copies that Gold had sent to other worlds...a vicious monster responsible for destroying many inhabited star systems and purging entire worlds of all life...she and her four minions, the Sisters of the Comet."

"What happened to them?" Muku asked.

"Troi happened," Nagisa smiled, "Iczer Three, as she was called at the time, created to be an auxiliary unit to assist Iczer One in defending the C'thuwulf people. When my partner was injured and exhausted during a fight against Neos, Troi was dispatched to Earth to head off an expected invasion, in spite of the fact that-at the time-Troi had not been fully gestated and was still a relatively young and inexperienced Iczer."

"Troi...that biker girl...a defender of the Earth?" Muku said incredulously.

"Don't be too quick to judge her by appearances," Nagisa winked, "I happen to regard her as a little sister myself, even if only by adoption. When Neos and her cronies launched their attack upon the earth, it was all that the Earth defenders could do to hold their own against those monsters. Mind you, the heroes of Earth put up one heck of a defense, but they might have been overwhelmed had Troi not shown up when she did to put the enemies in their place, one by one defeating the Sisters of the Comet and even Neos Gold herself in the final confrontation..."

"And she did this with help from you?" Muku asked.

"Oh yes," Nagisa smiled again, "At the time I was about nineteen, and I had just joined the Home Defense forces as a Medical technician...a Nurse, if you will...with plans on maybe becoming a doctor. The base that I was at was overwhelmed by the enemy Bioroid named Fiber and many of our brave soldiers were killed. I was nearly ripped to shreds by Fiber herself when Troi showed up to rescue me, and then we managed to Synchronize together to use her Iczer Robo, Unit Delta, to punish the transgressors. It was then that my memories of the past were partially awakened and I remembered what Iczer One and I had shared together, and what she had meant to me during our brief time of Synchronization."

"So what happened?" Muku asked, "Why don't I remember anything like this happening...what was it...?"

"Fifteen years ago," Nagisa helpfully replied, "And the answer is that you and everyone else who lived through those terrible days have largely forgotten about it, just as people tend to forget about the most recent appearances of Godzilla or some other giant monster..."

"Oh," Muku blinked, thinking long and hard about that answer.

"Of course certain powers-that-be remember these events, even if they have agencies that work full time explaining away and insuring that other people will forget them," Nagisa continued, "Such as the Men in Black, the MIB force that is charged with supervising alien activities on this planet, or SHIELD, the super-  
spy agency that deals with international problems of a paranormal nature. If you think about it, hardly anyone even bothers to think about Superman these days as an alien visitor from a far-off planet, any more than they think of Sunfire, our national hero, as a mutant..."

"I...think I get the point here," Muku replied, "Please continue, lady."

"Please," Nagisa waved a hand, "Call me Nagisa...you make me sound almost like an old lady, even if I am old enough to be your mother."

"Um...yeah," Muku conceded.

"Anyway," Nagisa resumed, "Iczer One and her sisters took their leave of us and went back to the C'thuwulf world ship to resume their quest for a new homeworld, but while they were gone a new menace cropped up that was yet again one of Gold's evil spawn. It became obvious that even having three Iczers wold not be sufficient deterrent to insure the safety of Earth and all other civilized Star Systems that were being similarly threatened, so they created the Iczelion core and dispatched teams of mini-robos to safeguard these worlds, and one of them found me, just in time to help me fight off the world threat of the evil twins, Chaos and Cross, often called the 'Grey Twins.'"

"So you got to take part in a war to defend the Earth for the third straight time, huh?" Muku noted.

"Yes, and it truly is something to remark about, considering what an unlikely candidate for heroine I made back when I was your age," Nagisa marveled.

"Huh?" Muku responded.

"You would not have thought me anything special back then," Nagisa replied, "I was weak and a bit of a crybaby...I tended to run away from problems and I never thought of myself as an exceptionally brave person. I would cry over minor things and the thought of hurting anyone would have been totally foreign to my nature. I can't even begin to imagine what it was that Iczer One saw in me when we first bonded...but...somehow, by some strange twist of fate, I turned out to be the only human in the entire world who had the potential of becoming her partner."

"Why just you?" Muku asked, "If Troi could share you with her own sister..."

"Good question," Nagisa replied, "Why me indeed? I only know that I never had any choice about becoming the one human being who could lend her power to both Iczers. You'd think they might have picked somebody brave, clever and resourceful, not a wimp like I was back then. In fact, after the whole business with Neos I got a bit upset with myself and decided I would try to become a braver person. I started to work out more, and then I took up an interest in wrestling, even considered becoming a profession wrestler after my interest in medicine waned...but for all of that I still cowered like a child when Cross came after me. It was only after being scared out of my wits that I found the courage to stand up for myself and take charge of my own affairs, after Cross nearly killed one of my best friends right in front of my eyes, just to goad me into putting up a better fight with her, of making our fight more...interesting."

"And did it work?" Muku asked.

"Better than she was counting on," Nagisa said, "I got angry...more angry than I'd ever been in my whole life, and then I killed her in battle. I can remember how surprised she looked when it happened, and how shocked I was in knowing I had done that..."

"You took a life?" Muku replied, feeling a sympathetic shudder as she read the expression of the other woman.

"I terminated a monster," Nagisa replied, "All of Gold's evil spawn were parasites and monsters, life-takers and destroyers who were bent on universal genocide and conquest. It was when I finally understood that such evil would always need to be opposed that I came to terms with my place as Iczer One's natural partner. So I contacted her and urged her to return to the Earth, then I negotiated a peace settlement with the world governments to allow the C'thuwulf the right of sanctuary."

"And you helped them to settle on earth," Muku finished for her, "That's incredible...and for ten years these aliens have been living in peace besides us?"

"Earth is now their home," Nagisa explained, "And they are sworn to defend it and all the people who live here, Terrans and C'thuwulf alike. It hasn't always been easy, and there was one heck of an adjustment period, but some C'thuwulf have even found that they like Earth society and have fully integrated themselves into Earth culture..."

"Like Troi?" Muku asked.

"Like Troi," Nagisa chuckled.

"But...you said that she used to be called Iczer Three," Muku noted, "And yet you said that there were three Iczers. Is Rhea the third?"

"No," Nagisa replied, "The fourth. Iczer Two...well...there's quite an interesting story about her, but she's a trusted member of C'thuwulf society these days, partnered to an Earth woman named Sayoko, who is one of my best friends. You'll meet her soon enough if you spend enough time hanging around with my daughter..."

"Ah..." Muku found her cheeks flushing crimson for reasons other than the temperature of the water.

"You like her, don't you?" Nagisa asked, "My daughter, that is?"

"Ah, well..." Muku looked down, uncertain what to say in response to that.

Nagisa just smiled, then moved to the edge of the bathing pool and started to climb out, "I think we're soaked enough for now...time to dry ourselves off and get dressed once again. Are you feeling better about yourself, Muku-chan?"

"I...guess maybe so," Muku allowed as she, too, rose up out of the water and accepted the towel that Nagisa passed her way, then at Nagisa's invitation the two of them sat down on a rock and allowed the warm air to dry off their bodies.

"The thing you have to keep in mind," Nagisa said, "Is that Rhea is less experienced in life than you, and she's spent most of her life living here in New Gamora. She's never been among normal human beings, such as yourself, all that much until now, just C'thuwulf and her three Aunts, the senior Iczers. She has known all of her life that she would one day find a partner and command an Iczer Robo in the defense of this, her natural homeworld. She is a child of Earth, my Earthchild, if you will...which is why I insisted on giving her a name instead of a mere number designation. Rhea, the ancient Titaness of Earth, seemed like a fitting enough title, and yes...my daughter also thinks of herself as partially human, so it's natural if she has a deep sense of curiosity about you..."

"About...me...or about humans?" Muku asked.

"About you primarily," Nagisa answered, "Humans are not all that different from the C'thuwulf...in fact, there is less than one thousandth of a percentage point difference in our chromosomal patterns, that one percent caused by genetic drift and their reliance on artificial means of reproduction, which tends to leave their normal reproductive organs as vestigial as a human appendix. Oh, they can have babies the normal way, of course, and some have...those C'thuwulf who have tried bonding with a man report great success in being mothers, though a few find it rather traumatic to have to gestate a baby inside their own bodies..."

"Ah...guess that is kind of...weird...to their way of thinking, huh?" Muku reasoned.

"Of course...there is that one drawback that comes from not having exposed Rhea at a young age to human males," Nagisa sighed, "I've noticed that she tends to be shy with the male half of our species...my fault for insisting she grow up away from too much up-close-and-personal knowledge. I didn't want my child to think of herself as a freak because of the prejudice that some would have regarding her appearance..."

"I think I can see what you mean about that," Muku replied, "And I was...wondering why she got so shy around Ken-san..."

"Of course with you the story is entirely different," Nagisa said wryly, "Rhea-  
chan not only likes you, but I can tell that she likes you a lot...which is why I feel compelled-as her mother-to ask if your feelings run the same way. After all, I wouldn't want my only daughter to suffer rejection because she might be expecting more out of you than you feel inclined to share..."

"Ah...to share?" Muku glanced down at her bare feet and blushed all over.

"An Iczer is a partner in all senses of the word," Nagisa noted, "And Rhea-chan seems quite taken with you, which means she might be inclined to being a bit...obsessive. Don't be too surprised if she gets defensive and overly protective around you, or if she might come to resent anyone else attempting to get too close to you, though I can't imagine Rhea as the jealous type. No doubt it would be your happiness that would be first and foremost in her thoughts, so anything that displeases you is bound to affect her..."

"You mean...like...she can read my thoughts and know what I'm feeling?" Muku asked.

"You have a psychic link with her," Nagisa replied, "A mental and emotional bond that can only grow stronger with time, so I feel compelled to warn you that there is another side to being partnered with an Iczer. Your life can never be the same again, and you can never be entirely what some people will call...normal..."

"Um, well...my life wasn't too normal to begin with," Muku started to say, when a shadow fell over her, causing her to look up with a start, at first thinking it was Rhea looking over her, but a closer glance proved that it was most definitely not Rhea.

"Ohiyo," this stranger said, "You must be Senzenen Muku Dori."

"Oh!" Muku gasped, nearly getting to her feet as she turned to face the tall blonde-haired woman with the overly large crimson eyes, dressed head to foot in a red-and-black-with gold trim version of Rhea's own battle armor.

"Be at peace," the stranger urged, making a placating gesture with one hand, "I am Iczer One, Nagisa's partner and co-mother to our Rhea. I didn't mean to startle you just now, but I have been wanting to meet with you since I first learned of your existence."

Muku took her time looking the blonde Iczer up and down, seeing a more statuesque version of Rhea, who had a body like a Supermodel and a bustline that was obvious even concealed as it was by her armor. The distinctly elvish features on the lovely face of the golden haired Iczer was like a foretaste of things to come with Rhea, and yet there was something about her...a presence...that made Muku feel as if she were in the company of a major diva. Though at ease and relaxed, there was something about this Iczer One that suggested a power unimaginable, and given the descriptions that had preceded her arrival, Muku found herself staring in amazement at the Bioroid who was clearly one half of Rhea's biological matrix.

"Yeah, she tends to have that affect on you the first time, huh?" Nagisa smiled as though reading Muku's thoughts, even as she sauntered around the boulder they had been sitting on and approached her nominal partner, slipping an arm around her waist and hugging the blonde Iczer with affection, "But trust me, she's a real Pussycat when you get to know her better."

"Ah..." Iczer One replied, and then she colored slightly, a gesture that made her seem more human than before, which further intrigued Muku as she started to comprehend that the Android was-strangely enough-very much like a human.

"Did you come to inform me about something?" Nagisa asked, her face hovering only inches away from her golden haired companion, even as her smile had a dazzling quality that clearly affected the Iczer.

"Um...yes," Iczer One replied, "I was hoping you might have time to join me in a meeting with our scientists. Sister Grey believes that she has made an important discovery concerning our enemies and what they might be about."

"You know I'd love to join you, Darling," Nagisa cooed, "But I also wanted to spend a little more time with our new Daughter-in-law...you understand that, don't you?"

"Um...of course," Iczer One agreed, "I'd enjoy that very much myself, but..."

"Oh ah...don't trouble yourselves over me," Muku said with a nervous chuckle, "I'm sure you've got lots of important things to take care of, and...well...it's getting a bit late, and I should be getting back home to my parents..."

"Quite so," Nagisa nodded, "And I'll bet anything that they're as worried about you as we would be if we were in their place."

"You are free to return to your home at any time," Iczer One assured, "But...I do hope that you will be mindful that we have...security considerations to think about regarding the existence of this base and complex..."

"Er...I guess I can see that," Muku conceded, then smiled and said, "Don't worry, I can keep a secret, and it's not like I could tell my friends about this place anyway, not without winding up in the booby hatch..."

"That would be the least of your worries," Iczer One ominously cautioned, "There are agencies within your own government who even more zealous about preserving our existence than we are, and some agencies can be a little too ruthless for my liking."

"But we'll see to it you get home safe and sound anyway," Nagisa began to say, only to pause as she glanced slightly to the side, "Or...maybe I should say that we know someone who'll be glad to volunteer for that assignment.

"Who...?" Muku started to ask when she froze, sensing the familiar presence just instants before Rhea stepped into her line of vision and smiled at her in a semi-shy way.

"I'm all better now," Rhea said, "And fully rested. I'm sorry that I was a bit abrupt with you back there, Muku-chan...I wish there had been more time for me to explain and prepare you..."

"Quite so," Iczer One smiled, "But events don't always give us enough time to do things the way we would like to pursue them," and she turned an ironic smile in Nagisa's direction.

"Better get yourself dressed, Muku-chan," Nagisa urged, "And keep the outfit...you'll find it can be both practical and rather handy."

"Er...is there a place somewhere I can change?" Rhea asked, feeling strangely reluctant to do so in front of Muku.

"Oh, I know just the place," Rhea said as she moved in closer and took Muku by one arm, "Your place back in your house...you can change there and not even have to worry about getting by your parents."

"Huh?" Muku started to react, "Wait a minute-" was all she had time to say before she and Rhea teleported together.

"She's growing up so fast," Iczer One marveled.

"I know," Nagisa smiled, "Poor Muku."

"She doesn't really have a clue what she's in store for, does she?" Iczer One remarked.

"No better than I did," Nagisa sighed.

"That's what I thought," her partner nodded, "And that's what makes me so worried."

"For Rhea-chan...or for Muku?" the darker haired Japanese girl wondered.

"For both of them," Iczer One affirmed, then sighed, "And they say that Earth Girls are easy..."

"Oh, is that what they say, huh?" Nagisa arched her tone and wiggled her eyebrows in a meaningful manner, suggesting things to the blonde haired Iczer that caused her to flush as red as a raspberry, though tinged with a sad reluctance as they both knew that they had other duties that would keep them both busy for several hours, which-of course-would just make them all the more determined to share the time they each so valued when the lines separating human from Iczer would blur altogether, making them of one mind and flesh in a unity for which no words could be adequate, save only the one contained in the innocuous term, "Partners."

With that thought in mind, Nagisa dressed herself then walked arm-in-arm with her slightly taller companion sharing thoughts together through their link as they went to attend to their all-important meeting...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Contiguous Co-Existence: shadowmane

Muku and Rhea have a talk about what has been so-far revealed concerning the C'thuwulf, the alien menace and what it truly means to be a "partner" while Ranma and Mikado go one-on-one on a personal matter, and more is revealed regarding the enemy Gold and what their enemies are planning. Be with us next time in, "Dances with Iczers," or "Of All the Gall-Force!" Be there!

X -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	12. Chapter 12

Earthchild12

The Earthchild

(A Ranma/Iczer Crossover)

by Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi &amp; Others)

Chapter Twelve.

"EEP!" Muku exclaimed as she materialized with Rhea inside her own bedchamber, still semi-wet and (even more importantly) semi-naked.

"We are here at your home, just as I promised," Rhea remarked as she released Muku's wrist then stood back and started to scan the room as if seeing it for the first time with her own eyes, "You have a very...interesting place, Muku-  
chan. Is this how normal Earth girls choose to decorate their private quarters?"

"Ah...no," Muku backed away a half-step from the other girl, her heart (for some inexplicable reason) beating like a triphammer, "You'd have to give me time to straighten up a bit first...Mom's always after me about how messy my room gets when I have guests over...I mean...when one of my friends sleeps over...AH! I didn't mean that quite the way it sounded..."

Rhea turned to look at her again with those incredibly magnetic eyes of hers and said, "It is all right if I make you nervous. I did not mean to withhold information about me before...I wanted to tell you the truth about me, but...I was afraid you would not understand and might reject me..."

"Reject you...for...?" Muku swallowed.

"For being descended from an alien race...and for being of alien manufacture," Rhea turned and looked down as she added, "But now you know the truth about me...that I am a Bioroid...created to serve and protect the C'thuwulf people, even though I have a human mother."

"Ah...yeah...about that," Muku swallowed, "Your Mom seems nice...in fact she's very...human...but your-um-other parent..."

"She is the Protector of the C'thuwulf," Rhea explained, "Our Military Governor and the Incarnation of all that is best in the C'thuwulf race. I was raised under her benevolent rule in New Gamora, and I tend to think of myself as an Earth Girl, despite my artificial origins."

"Uh...yeah," Muku took a deep breath and willed herself to relax, trying very hard not to think of where she was and how near she might be at that moment to her loving (but rather nosy) parents, especially standing in a bath towel clutching borrowed clothing of alien manufacture, and sharing space with a girl who was unearthly in every sense, not least of which being her incomparable beauty, "About that...you mean you've grown up here all along but this is the very first time you've been to the surface?"

"More or less," Rhea said evasively, "But...when I sensed your existence...when I became aware that you lived out here in the world of the Terrans...I wanted to come and meet you for myself. I was afraid to get too close to you until I sensed that the Venomoids were starting to penetrate into our world. I...have known about you for some weeks now...but I could not reveal myself until I was certain..."

"Certain of what?" Muku asked, not certain if she was going to be any more comfortable knowing the answer.

"That you are the one whom I was fated to meet," Rhea said shyly, reminding Muku very much of a timid deer that could spook at any moment, "The one human who is a perfect biological and spiritual match for bonding with me and becoming my partner. I wanted to have more time to explain things to you...but I...lacked the courage. I did not wish to deceive you in any way, but I hoped if you had more time to...get to know me better...you might..."

"Might...what?" Muku asked, surprised upon discovering that Rhea had stepped closer to her in proximity, her eyes still fixed on those luminous eyes that gazed on her in such an adoring manner.

"That you might...come to accept me for who and what I am," Rhea replied, taking Muku by one hand and holding the palm up to her own armored breast, "That you might...understand what I was born to be...a living weapon, but mostly your friend. Though I am composed of a different sort of basic matter than you, I am still flesh and blood and every cubic centimeter a human being..."

Muku was surprised to find the armor was warm to the touch, and on impulse she raised her hand to cup Muku's cheek, unconsciously feeling along the veins in the exposed flesh of the other girl's neck until she discovered something unexpected there...a pulse!

"You...feel so warm..." Muku said in dull amazement.

"I have body temperature regulators, the same as you," Rhea replied, "I have a heart that beats and pumps a different kind of blood through my arterial system, but I have a liver and other organs that function very much like your own. My brain is constructed upon similar microcelular lines, though more highly advanced and tolerant of stress levels that human flesh could not withstand...and I have other bodily functions that operate on much the same lines. You will not find any part of me that is less real than your own flesh, and if you wish to...examine me in further detail...I would not object."

"Examine...?" Muku closed her mouth and very audibly swallowed.

"I would, of course, be very much in favor of examining your body along similar lines," Rhea continued, the very innocence of her eyes belying the suggestiveness of her statement, "I wish to commit every part of you to memory...you are sacred to me now, and I desire to know all that there is to know about you...if you will permit it."

"If I...?" Muku brain almost short-circuited as she tried to sort out the significance of that statement, only to be interrupted in mid-gasp.

"Muku-chan!" a voice from downstairs called out, "Are you home yet? I'm sorry if I let myself in, but there was nobody at the front door, so...Muku-chan? Are you there?"

"Yumi-chan?" Muku reacted with a start, even as she saw the startled look in Rhea's own eyes, and then the other girl vanished from the room in a flash of pixilation.

"Muku-chan?" there was the sound of feet moving rapidly up the stairs, and another moment later the door to her room swung wide open as Yumi rushed right in, took one look at Muku and halted in mid-step with a startled, "What the heck happened to you?"

"Ah..." despite Rhea having made herself scarce once again, Muku felt like blushing from head to toe as though caught in a very compromising situation, "Nothing...I was just taking a bath, that's all..."

"Oh," Yumi visibly relaxed, only to pause when she saw the alien mini-dress that Muku still clutched to her body, "What's that? A new outfit?"

"Huh?" Muku belatedly realized what she was holding and quickly held it out to display it before Yumi, "Er yes...do you like it?"

"Yellow and orange?" Yumi blinked her eyes then shrugged, "Well...whatever. But where the heck have you been for the last few hours? Don't you know everybody's been going crazy looking for you, not the least of whom-I mean to say-  
includes your parents?"

"Oh...sorry about that..." Muku nervously chuckled, "Didn't mean to have everybody get worried over nothing..."

Yumi studied Muku's face for a long moment then said, "What are you blushing for? Did I catch you at a bad time or something? Oh wait...it's that girl you were with, Rhea, huh?" Yumi grinned suggestively, "Were you spending the whole day with her after beating up on that giant robot? I'll bet she's the one who bought you that dress, am I right?"

"What...um...well...?" Muku tried to think fast for an answer, only now Yumi was glancing around the room as though looking for something significant.

"Is she still here?" Yumi asked, crouching down to peer under Muku's bed, then going over to inspect her closet, "Did I catch you two lovebirds in the middle of something naughty? Damn! If only I had Ken's camera..."

"What do you mean...I mean...I didn't do anything wrong!" Muku sputtered in protest.

"I never said you did," Yumi replied while inspecting the window to see if they had been recently opened, "Don't mind me...nosy friend and all that, I just want the low down on what's up with you two...you know...the juicy scoop, what's shaking with the most Popular girl in school suddenly finding herself a new girlfriend?"

"You're imagining things!" Muku protested, "And she's not my girlfriend...I mean...not like you're implying..."

"Sure she isn't," Yumi straightened up, leaning forward as she looked Muku directly face-to-face, "Don't try to kid a kidder, Muku-chan...I've known you since we were rug-rats together. I can always tell when you're trying to hide something, and you're a terrible liar anyway, so drop the act and don't play so dumb with your old best-buddy. What's the real deal here? Have you gone to town with her, by which I mean all the way?"

"All the way?" it took Muku all of four seconds to realize that her best friend was NOT referring to any "Mall Hopping." She started to give another perfunctory protest, only to freeze in the act as a mental image of Rhea came to mind, taking the wind out of her sails with any further evasions.

"You haven't done it yet, have you?" Yumi said after another few seconds of complete silence, "Darn...and here I was hoping to get the straight skivy on how she was and whether you liked it or not. I'll bet you were thinking of doing it with her when I went and interrupted you like an idiot...rats! Bad timing, the story of my life..."

"Er...Yumi-chan," Muku took a deep breath and said, "Rhea-chan...walked me home after the fight...she took me to see her parents, but that's all that happened, honest!"

"That's all?" Yumi sounded profoundly disappointed, "Yeah, that sounds a lot like you, Senzenen. You never were one to jump into things with both feet, you always have to test the waters first before you get yourself wet. And here I thought maybe you'd finally settle down and make a commitment..."

"A commitment?" Muku realized that she had been repeating the words other used a lot that day, but did not know for the life of her how to stop doing so when people kept saying surprising things that were driving her to distraction.

"Sure," Yumi sniffed, "It may have escaped your notice, Robo-Jock, but there are more than a few girls in school who think you're a pretty hot number. It's not just the guys who get all fluttery when they see you pass, you've got quite a fan club with the fair sex, and not the least of those who have the hots for you is our good buddy, Sakura."

"Sakura? No way!" Muku protested, then paused with a confused expression and added, "You mean it?"

"Huh, she's only the second biggest Ball-buster in our school, next to you," Yumi pouted, "Not that she'd ever admit that she likes girls, she just says she hates guys a lot so Kenny-boy won't push their engagement. Why do you think she's got such a bad temper around you lately? She wants you but she's in denial, so she reacts with violence, then a new girl shows up and you go all goo-goo eyes over her, so what is she supposed to think? Of course she gets all jealous and possessive!"

"But I...but she...but we...but...hooboy..." Muku grimaced.

"But what about me?" Yumi continued, "You've never tried to hit on me, and how do you think that makes me feel? Not that I'm saying I want to bed with you, of course, but it would have been nice if you asked me even once. Makes me feel like surplus goods that you never even think about my feelings."

"But...Yumi-chan..." Muku helplessly protested.

"Of course you've scanned me when we're changing in the girls locker rooms a lot," Yumi went on as if uninterrupted, "And who knows what's been going through your mind lately, so I guess maybe I should take a little comfort in that. If you've ever had any secret fetishes revolving around me...I'd understand, of course...not that I expect you to tell me what they are...would you?"

"Would I...what?" Muku asked, feeling as if she had totally lost all control over the conversation.

"Okay, play hard to get, see how I feel," Yumi sniffed, "Pretend the whole thing never happened, I never said anything and you never heard me say that, all right?"

"Uh..." Muku blinked, her head swimming from too much sensory overload, "Whatever..."

"Right," Yumi nodded, "Now, why don't you get dressed and meet me downstairs. I hope you won't mind if I make myself a sandwich. No offense, but I'd rather not risk my health by trying anything your mother might have made for you. I'll see you when you're ready, okay Muku-chan?"

"Ready...for what?" Muku asked.

"For coming with me down to the skating rink, of course," Yumi said as she headed out the way she had come, "That's where your parents went to meet up with Uncle Ranma."

"To meet up with...why are they doing that?" Muku called out before the door was closed behind the exiting Yumi.

"Something about Sensei asking to meet with them about important business...centering around you, of course, but what else is new?" and with that the door closed firmly, leaving Muku standing where she was with a totally non-  
plussed expression.

Rhea appeared moments later and stared at the door, her expression almost matching that of Muku as she said, "Your friend...is a very strange person."

"Tell me something I don't already know," Muku murmured back, only to think a moment before hastily adding, "On second thought-don't! I don't think I can take any more dramatic revelations in one day."

"As you wish, Muku-chan," Rhea replied, "But why would your Uncle wish to speak with your parents?"

"With them?" Muku shrugged, "It can mean only one thing..." and then she looked meaningfully at Rhea, who belatedly had the good sense to turn around, though her eyes immediately sought out the vanity mirror on Muku's desk in which she watched with rapt attention as her partner disrobed and began to change into something more C'thuwulf-befitting, much to Rhea's heartfelt sigh of approval...

"All right, Pretty boy," Ranma growled, "Let's see what you've got!"

"More than you can handle, Saotome!" Mikado challenged back as the two of them circled out into the ice rink, moving swiftly and gaining in momentum.

All at once Ranma leaped into the air, skates extended like a pair of deadly blades, but Mikado easily avoided the attack and performed a perfect circle recovery in order to meet up with his foe as Ranma spun about to renew his onslaught.

"Too slow as usual!" Mikado said as they came together in a clash of arms where fists and feet flew and were exchanged like a rapid ice-ballet, only for the two of them to part again and circle around, looking for new openings in their mutual defenses.

"Too fast for you, Kissy-face!" Ranma cried out as he spun about on one skate like a human top and came whirling at Mikado like a human cyclone.

"As usual you lack grace in your attacks," Mikado taunted as he executed a perfect spinning vault that carried him gracefully over the head of his opponent, landing in time to execute a full turn that brought him into line for his next attack.

"So what?" Ranma snorted, "I'm still gonna mop up the rink with your face!"

"As if I'd be so clumsy as to fall for your cheap theatrics..."

"Boys," grunted Akane from where she and Ukyo were sitting on the sidelines.

"Tell me about it," Ukyo replied, her feet propped up on the railing as she leaned back in her chair and watched the battle of the two skaters play out in all its frigid glory.

"You'd think at their age they'd be beyond the name calling and the taunting," Akane shook her head, "But no, they have to act like they're still a couple of kids fighting over a stupid pet pig, or something."

"That's the way they like it, Sugar," Ukyo said in amusement, "They'll never change and they never grow up...but...speaking of Ryoga, when was the last time you saw him and Rei?"

"A couple of weeks ago, when we took Muku-chan up to visit her friend Yui on Cherry Hill," Akane replied, sipping from her cup of tea before adding, "Amazingly enough everybody was home when we got there...and what are the odds of something like that happening?"

"Sugar," Ukyo chided, "One of these days you're gonna have to let go of the past and learn to forgive him. It ain't like the baka meant to spy on you all of those nights..."

"I have forgiven him," Akane insisted, "I just don't see why I have to drag things out by putting up with another one of his 'kicked puppy' expressions. He's the one who ought to let go of the past...we're well beyond the point where modesty is that big an issue."

"True," Ukyo mused, "And in a few more years we'll both be more than happy if anybody even bothers to look at us in the nude, including our husbands..."

"You don't really believe that, do you?" Akane asked.

"Of course not," Ukyo chuckled, "I plan to be young and beautiful forever. So, what are your plans?"

"Surviving until retirement," Akane replied, "Actually...I've been thinking a lot...what with Muku growing up and maybe leaving home in a few more years...that maybe I'd like to go back on the circuit with Miki. I've been keeping myself in shape so I can still be a pretty effective partner, and I don't like sitting at home when he's out touring and giving performances to all the little fan-girls who'd like to get more than just a kiss from him. It's much too much temptation, and I'm afraid he might revert to his old type..."

"He'd never cheat on you, Sugar," Ukyo replied, "He'd never have the guts. Besides, these days he's strictly a one-girl kissing machine, am I right?"

"Well..." Akane started to blush a bit like a teenager, only to give a yelp as a spray of ice showered both of them, kicked up by the mutual skates of their respective husbands.

"HAH!" Ranma said, holding Mikado in a head-lock, "Say uncle, tough guy!"

"No way!" Mikado grunted, using a free hand to strike at the back of Ranma's left knee, which caused the other man to lose his balance so that the two of them went tumbling into the ice, just moments before they both hit the backboard together.

A moment or two passed before they both pushed their way up from the ice, then Mikado felt along his back said, "I think...a truce for now, while we take stock of our bearings?"

"Could be a good idea, yeah," Ranma conceded, then the two of them exchanged grins as they helped each other back to their feet, dusting off the ice that clung to their outfits.

"A good workout...for an amateur," Mikado cheerfully noted.

"Nice to see you ain't slowing down any in your old age, Molester," Ranma grinned back, only to halt as he took better stock of their surroundings and saw the expressions their wives were giving them at the moment, "Uh oh..."

"Uh oh what?" Senzenen asked, then froze as he followed the other man's line of sight and saw the snow and ice that presently colored the faces of Ukyo and Akane, to which the handsome skater said, "This...looks bad..."

"You could say that," Akane growled, flowing ice and snow out of her nostrils.

"You are so dead, Mister," Ukyo growled, reaching for her battle spatula, at which point Ranma considered looking for the nearest available exit.

"Now Ucchan..." Ranma started to plead for his life, backing away with both hands raised in his defense, only to halt as a familiar voice broke out over the tableau.

"SAOTOME, YOU CUR!"

Mikado whirled around then said, "Well...what do you know...saved by the bell?"

"Nice to know some things in life are reliable," Ranma stage-murmured as he too turned in time to see the approaching form of an angry Kuno Tatewaki, with a familiar purple-haired presence tagging along at his side, managing well on the ice as though skating were a part of her nature.

"Ranma!" Kuno growled again as he came skating up to confront his old antagonist.

"Hey Kuno, what's shaking?" Ranma replied, nodding to the other woman present and saying, "Shampoo."

"Hmph!" she turned up her nose to him, like usual, her way of expressing a profound sense of disapproval.

"Saotome...you and Senzenen had better explain yourselves, and swiftly!" Tatewaki declared in wrath, "What have your two too unfeminine offspring been doing with my children?"

"Hey, watch that 'unfeminine stuff,'" Ranma leaned forward and stage whispered, "You wanna get us all in Dutch with the ladies? I mean...more hot water than usual, if you take my meaning?"

Tatewaki visibly paused to consider this, glancing at the hostile stares of Akane and Ukyo before relaxing and murmuring back, "I take your point to heart. Perhaps I was a bit too hasty in describing them in such ungentlemanly terms, but..."

"What did they do now?" Mikado asked, certain that the blame would lie on the other party, but not willing to make too much of a fuss about the particulars in the matter.

"That is just the point," Tatewaki bristled, "There was a challenge match held today...one of which I did not approve, but honorably given and accepted, between young Muku Dori and my fair flower of velvet evening..."

"You mean Gel?" Ranma translated, "I understand their fight got interrupted..."

"Precisely!" Kuno flared, "Another party did interfere in their duel and took task with both my son and my daughter. As you know, I have tried to discourage their taking an interest in your offspring, but youth will be prone to folly, and Godai is a man who shares his father's fine eye for the ladies..." he paused as there was a pointed bit of throat-clearing at his side, and then dutifully mentioned, "...Back when I was a young man of leisure who had not yet met my true one and only lilac-tressed love goddess."

"Flatterer," Shampoo replied, but with a broad smile that showed how much she appreciated her silver-tongued hubby.

"I was not aware of this," Senzenen turned to Ranma and asked, "Was this the reason you asked me here, and not just for recreation?"

"I was going to tell you all about it, old buddy," Ranma assured him, "It seems Muku's picked up a new admirer...a girl from out of town...I know her family, she's of good stock, so don't go on about her consorting with riff-raff, Kuno-  
san..."

"As if your recommendation were enough to assuage me," Kuno sniffed, "So...this...admirer of young Senzenen took exception to the fight between Gel-  
chan and Muku?"

"Among other things," Ranma replied tactfully, "You see...about ten years ago I met up with one of her aunts and...well...she sort of became my student, and she's passed on some of what she knows to her niece, so..."

"In other words she is of the Anything Goes school," Shampoo deduced, "Which makes her your responsibility, Saotome. What then was her cause for injuring Godai?"

"The usual," Ranma replied, "He got a little too fresh with the new girl, so she decked him."

"Ah yes," Kuno nodded sagely, "I remember well what that was like...like father, like son, and none too far from the branch falls certain apples..."

"Bad apples if you ask me," said Akane as she and Ukyo got up to join the conversation, "I've told you repeatedly to keep your son away from my daughter, but you just have to let him carry on like a Lothario! Can't you at least get him to respect the fact that a girl means 'No' when she says 'No?'"

"It's not my desire that he be so aggressive in pursuing his suit," Tatewaki sighed, "I've tried explaining to him many times how my own blind pursuits never availed me of the ones whom I desired..."

"Yeah," Ranma said coyly, "Right."

Kuno did not glance at his one-time rival, but he colored a bit, to which Mikado gave him an sympathetic nod of understanding.

"I will not defend my son's actions if they were improper," Shampoo declared, "He is of an age when he must fight his own battles, but I would wish him to take less after his Uncle Mousse as it...displeases me to see him following such a poor example," she winced slightly, then resumed, "However, I cannot abide seeing an Amazon duel being disrupted by an outsider. Whether or not Gel should have issued that challenge, it was for Muku to fight and defeat her, not for the likes of some strange girl whom no one has ever met before. You should count it fortunate if Gel does not give her the Kiss of Death for this outrage."

"Um...isn't that going a little bit overboard?" Ranma winced, recalling all too well the days when he had been forced to fend off numerous attacks in his female guise with the Purple Haired Dynamo before him seeking to mete out vengeance, until she accidentally wound up entrapping her present husband, "I'm sure Rhea-  
chan never meant to give offense..."

"Rhea-chan?" Tatewaki repeated, "This girl bears the name of an ancient Greek Goddess?"

"Titan," Senzenen corrected.

"Whatever," Kuno shrugged.

"Her name is Kano Rhea," Ranma replied, "And like I said...she's a friend of the family. I'd take it personal if anyone tries to mess with her, and-believe me-you don't want to mess with her family, especially her Aunts."

"But what is this...Kano Rhea's business defending Muku?" Shampoo asked, "Are they Sword-Pledged together?"

"Ah...it's a little more complicated than that..." Ranma winced slightly.

"Oh?" Senzenen asked, "Do tell?"

"Ah...maybe I should explain a few things at the beginning," Ranma said, glancing over his shoulder, "Ucchan?"

"Sure, no problem," Ukyo sniffed, "I'll back up your story, Sugar, just be sure to tell it from the beginning."

"Hey, no sweat," Ranma reassured, "Like I said, it happened about ten years ago, right before I decided to open up the restaurant dojo and take in students, like little Muku, who's been training ever since with my Sakura..."

"...Who also seems to have a tendency to interfere in Amazon challenge matches," Shampoo noted.

"Right," Ranma said, "Well...one day I was coming home from a training trip when I saw our place under attack by a couple of monsters...one a giant robot..."

"Giant robot?" Kuno eyed him skeptically, "Do you take me to still be an addle-  
witted fool on drugs, Saotome?"

"It's true, Sugar," Ukyo assured, "I almost got stepped on by the bloody big bugger. Of course it was the other guy who got the worst of it, but then when Ranma fished out the pilot she turned out to be in pretty bad shape. A couple of weeks of rest, however, and she was back on her feet again, and ready to take lessons."

"You do have the oddest way of recruiting students, old friend," Senzenen said of Ranma.

"Tell me about it," Ranma agreed, "Anyway...Ucchan and me helped her get back on her feet, then she studied with us for a couple of months before going back to her own people...and ten years later we find out that she's been training her niece in the same system..."

"Surely there must be more to the story than just this," Shampoo frowned, "To hear Godai express it, you would think he met an angel..."

"Or an Elvish Princess," her husband duly noted.

"Ah...well...not quite," Ranma said, "In fact, that was the part I was just getting around to. You see, she called herself an Iczer, which is a kind of..."

"Did somebody mention me?" yet another voice asked.

Heads turned at once to take in the presence of the silver-haired Troi, who smiled at them while once again dressed in her biker leathers.

"Thought you went back to your place, Sugar?" Ukyo remarked.

"I did go back," Troi smiled, "But now I'm here...Sugar. Actually I'm looking for my niece and I wondered if you'd seen her? I got a residual trace of her having been here within the last twelve hours, but I'd hoped you'd have some idea where she went off to."

"Not a clue," Ranma replied.

"We thought she was still with Muku," Ukyo noted.

"With Muku-chan?" Akane blinked, "And...who are you?"

"Troi's the name," the Iczer in question answered with a jaunty little smile, "And you must be Muku-chan's mother. I've heard a little about you..."

"Don't you want to hear her side of it?" Senzenen asked, then winced slightly as his wife gave him a playful punch to the ribs.

"Hey, take it easy with my buddy," Ranma urged his former fianc e, "You might hurt something delicate down there..."

"That's my business, Mister," Akane sniffed.

"Ranma-kun," Senzenen murmured in sotto-voice, "Don't help."

"Hey, I gotta stand up for my best buds," Ranma assured, "After all, you saved my life once."

"And how, precisely, did he do this?" Kuno asked.

Ranma turned a benevolent smile at the taller man and said, "He married Akane."

"WHY YOU...!" Akane started to take a step forward, only to be stopped by Ukyo's outstretched hand.

"Hold it, Sugar," the Chef assured, "That's my husband you're picking on."

"So?" Akane asked.

"So, if anybody's gonna punish him, it's me!" Ukyo said, and brought her spatula down on Ranma, flattening him (though she did it with affection).

"Now that he had coming," Senzenen remarked with no little sympathy in his expression.

"Well now," Troi arched a silvery eyebrow, "I can see you guys are busy socializing, so I guess I'll just pop on out of here and try looking somewhere else for Rhea-chan. Nice to meet you, by the way," she gave Shampoo an appropriately standard leer, to which the purple haired woman just as appropriately colored, "Be seeing you around, Cute Stuff."

And with that she vanished, leaving Tatewaki to gasp, "How did she do that?"

"Fairy dust most likely," Ukyo said as she helped Ranma back to his feet.

"Anybody get the number of that Combat Mecha?" Ranma asked in a semi-dazed state.

"So...that was this Rhea's Aunt, eh?" Shampoo murmured with a look of disquiet.

"One of 'em anyway," Ranma replied as he started to recover his scrambled wits, "Of course her big sister really is a hell raiser..."

"One can only imagine," Kuno remarked in a faintly appalled tone of voice.

"Can...this Rhea vanish and reappear like that?" Akane asked.

"It's a family trait," Ukyo replied, "You get used to it after a while."

Senzenen turned to his wife and said, "You do meet the oddest sorts in this town."

"Don't I know it," Akane nodded, thinking to herself that she was going to have to have a long and careful mother-daughter talk with her Muku...

"So..." Iczer One remarked as she studied the chamber that houses three charred and blackened corpses, "What, so far, have you been able to determine regarding these enemy Bioroids, Sister Grey?"

"First off, your suspicions about them turned out to be entirely correct," the chief Scientist of the C'thuwulf replied, "Their quantum flux readings definitely confirm that they are from a near-parallel dimension, one slightly off from synchronicity to our own universe, perhaps no more than a few angstroms in vibrancy separating us from their world."

"That little?" Nagisa was appalled, "You mean that they are that close to being in constant with our own universe?"

"We believe that the separating between their continuum and our own is much less precise than we would have imagined," Sister Grey affirmed, "That means the danger to us is even more considerable than we would have thought possible...and the incursions into our world will likely grow more intense very shortly."

"Because it requires less energy for them to translate into our world?" Iczer Two inquired.

"Worse than that," Sayoko quipped, "They're that much closer to being on Troi's wavelength. Now that's scary!"

"There is more to the problem that confronts us, of course," Grey continued, turning to the chamber in question, "We suspected that the ease with which we recovered these units might indicate that we were meant to find and recover them, which is why certain precautions were taken and a firewall was erected to contain in case our suspicions should prove valid, which they did."

"What do you mean?" Iczer One asked with a note of increasing concern.

"Observe this," Grey remarked as she passed her hand over a control panel, "We discovered this during a routine data scan of these remains...watch what happens when we approach a certain frequency in UV electron readings..."

The room lighting shifted in frequency and took on a more violet shading, when all at once the three bodies erupted into a spurting growth of tentacles that shot out in all directions, filling the entire chamber in a matter of seconds...but falling short of the observation booth as a field of energy sprang up to contain them.

"Venomoids," Iczer Two spat the word with distaste, "These bodies were contaminated with the host virus."

"Correct," Grey replied, "But, as you can see, routine countermeasures have so far proven most effective."

She passed her hand over the panel again and the entire room was bathed in blinding incandescent light, causing the screen filters to automatically kick on, sparing the observers from momentary flash blindness. When the radiance ended the chamber was clear, only the three bodies remaining unaffected.

"We've purged them three times and still the tentacles grow back each time we subject them to the UV scans," Grey remarked, "Rather remarkable on the face of it, but we do believe that we have a means of permanently decontaminating them of all traces of the residual virus. That will still leave us with three inactive Bioroids, but for all the extensive damage they've each received, we do believe that they are within the realm of repairable functions. It might even be possible to recover important data from their residual memory files..."

"Can you bring them back to life?" Nagisa asked.

Grey and the others looked at her curiously, Sayoko asking, "Why would you want to?"

"Well, think about it," Nagisa remarked, "Who do you think now has a better reason to hate Neos Gold and her boss? Those three have twice now been killed doing the bidding of their creator..."

"Might I remind you that their primary function until now has been to seek our own termination?" Iczer Two said dryly.

"Perhaps so," Iczer One remarked, "But they haven't had that good a success of it so far, now have they?"

"So what?" Sayoko asked, "They still have the blood of countless billions of people on their synthetic hides! Besides, Two, aren't you the one who's always calling them defective?"

"Indeed," Iczer Two frowned, "But still...I was once where they are now, and while there is somewhat less blood on my hands than on theirs, one cannot totally ignore the fact that they are the victims of bad design and faulty programming."

"My thoughts on that exactly," Iczer One concurred, "Perhaps we ought to try it...but with certain...modifications."

"If that is what you wish, Protector, then my people will get on with it at once," Grey replied, "After we make sure that there are no more nasty surprises waiting to be discovered."

"Do what you must, Sister Grey," Iczer One replied, "We know so little about the current strength of the enemy, anything these three might be able to yield will be of benefit to our cause."

"I see," Grey nodded, "Well then...there is one more significant bit of data that I have to relate for you concerning the Bioroid who calls herself Nova."

"Eh?" Iczer Two asked, her interest level peaking.

Grey called up a holographic display of a DNA molecule then explained, "My daughter, Troi, took a reading on her during their most recent encounter, and a scan of her genetic composition turned up some surprising findings, not the least of which is the confirmation we needed regarding her parentage. I am sorry to have to inform you of this, Iczer Two, but she truly is your daughter."

"I see," Iczer Two glanced down, "I had feared that would prove to be the case..."

"Yes, but the surprising thing is that the other parent in her matrix is Nagisa," Grey resumed.

Everyone looked sharply at the chief scientist over this, and as one they chorused, "NAGISA...?"

"Me?" Nagisa herself reacted with astonishment.

"You?" Sayoko looked at her, then glanced at her own partner, "Is there something you two have been meaning to tell the rest of us?"

"Eh?" both Nagisa and Iczer Two replied, exchanging looks with one another, then taking notice of their mutual significant others.

"My sister and Nagisa," Iczer Two looked thoughtful, "In a way it does make sense..."

"It does?" Sayoko responded.

"Long before she knew you, Two harbored a deep interest in having Nagisa for a partner," Iczer One faintly smiled as she regarded her crimson haired sister, "In fact she even tried to get her to kill me..."

"Ah..." Iczer Two glanced away with a look of uneasiness, "Well...if you're going to keep bringing that up in every other conversation..."

"That's right," Nagisa turned to regard Iczer Two, "You were trying to steal me away from your sister, you pervert."

"But I-!" Iczer Two started to protest.

"Ancient history, as you say" Iczer One made a placating gesture, "The point remains...this is a child who was formed from your DNA and that of Nagisa. That means she has great power and even greater potential..."

"Hey, it's not so ancient for me!" Sayoko protested, "Why the heck couldn't they use my DNA when they made her? By all rights that should be MY daughter!"

"Sayoko-chan..." Iczer Two tried to sound placating.

"Don't Sayoko-chan me, you two-timer!" Sayoko retorted, "How could you do something like this to me...and behind my back?"

"..." Iczer Two replied with a totally non-plussed expression.

"You know what this means, don't you?" Sayoko turned to regard her partner frankly, "Either we have a child of our own, or else we're adopting this one."

Only the sound of Iczer Two's blinking filled the silence that followed that particular declaration.

"Well..." Nagisa said at last, "I guess that means that congratulations are in order. Should we call this one Iczer Five, or some other number?"

"I know what Troi would say if she were here," Iczer One mused.

"So do I," Grey half-smiled, "I am not a Number, I'm a free Iczer..."

"Say, that's right," Sayoko snapped her fingers as if just then getting another 'bright suggestion,' one that caused alarm bells to ring out in the mind of her partner, "You know, it does sound a little dorky always calling you guys by your number designation. I think Troi actually has the right idea, for once...maybe you should both adopt names that we can use in the world outside so we don't always have to be calling you One and Two, or Ich-chan and Ni-chan."

"You know, I definitely like that idea," Nagisa beamed, "I've been wondering how we were going to introduce ourselves when we meet Muku Dori's parents, and it would make a kind of sense if you were to take a normal Earth name...like, say...Unus?"

"Unus?" Iczer One repeated, her expression going from amusement over her sister's plight to definite alarm of a comparable nature.

"Yeah, that works," Sayoko said, turning to her own significant other, "Then maybe I ought to call you Duo-something...or maybe Duella?"

"Duella?" Iczer Two replied with a slightly sinking sensation.

"It's settled then," Nagisa clapped, "From now on you're Kano Unus, One."

"And that makes you Kai Duella," Sayoko beamed proudly.

"Kano Unus?" Iczer One repeated.

"...Kai Duella?" Iczer Two seconded.

"What a great idea," Nagisa beamed at Sayoko, "Great minds think alike, hai?"

"You said it!" Sayoko grinned, "This calls for a celebration...how about the four of us go out this time, and this time we pick a restaurant that isn't a Venomoid outpost. I'll even spring for the check, since I'm feeling generous."

"I do like the way you think, Sayoko-chan," Nagisa grinned as the two Japanese women linked arms together and strode side-by-side out of the chamber.

There was total dead silence in the room, which lasted around half a minute, until Iczer Two spoke up, "Oneesama?"

"Yes?" Iczer One replied.

"You and I are two of the most powerful beings who currently reside upon this planet," the crimson haired Iczer observed, "So...how is it that we both find ourselves constantly being led by the noses by both of our partners?"

"Just one of life's mysteries, I guess," her older blonde sister responded.

"That is what I figured."

"COME ALONG, YOU TWO!" Nagisa's voice was heard to ring from down the hallway.

"HAI!" both Iczers dutifully responded, then with an ironic glance of sisterly affection they, too, linked arms and exited the room together, leaving Sister Grey to shake her head and murmur to herself, "And they call Iczer Three the wild one in this family unit..."

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Changing Name Designations: shadowmane

Troi goes in search of her niece but gets...slightly distracted...while Rhea learns more from spending time around her new partner, while Muku takes stock of the curious events of the last few days, and her friends try to take stock of the changes they've noticed in her...all this and more in, "Love on the Rockets," or "Satisfaction Guaranteed or your Honey Back!" Be there!

X -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	13. Chapter 13

Earthchild13

The Earthchild

(An Iczer/Ranma Crossover)

by Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi &amp; Others)

Chapter Thirteen.

WARNING-LEMON-LIME ALERT!  
THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS SEMI-GRAPHIC MATERIAL THAT MAY BE DEEMED LESS THAN APPROPRIATE IN CERTAIN COUNTIES.  
CHECK YOUR LOCAL LISTINGS FOR THEIR HENTAI RATINGS-YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Troi materialized inside the Saotome restaurant and glanced around, confirming within mere instants that her wayward niece was no where in or near the building. This left her slightly flustered as she was running out of places to look, and for some strange reason Rhea had turned off her homing beacon, as if she did not want to be located, which made Troi smile slightly as she had an inkling as to her fellow Iczer's motive for doing this.

"Not too bad, Niece," she murmured with a leer, "You're moving quicker than I gave you credit for, but I've been in this game a lot longer than you and I know how to play it. Once I find your little love nest then I'm checking in to watch...which is what a good little Auntie should do for her favorite Sprite."

Convinced of the logic for this, Troi prepared to teleport out when she paused, glancing around, her sensitive pointed ears detecting the sounds of running water moving through piping.

"Oho?" she murmured in a thoughtful manner, "What's this?" and with that she teleported upstairs, completely unaware that a pair of glowing red eyes had just detected her movement...

"Damn her," Sakura growled under her breath, "How can she just...vanish like this...and to me of all people?"

It frustrated her to no end that she had been unable to hunt down Muku Dori, her friend and favorite sparring partner, who had taken off with some floozy in a giant robot whom she had only just met a few days earlier. Sakura did not yet fully understand the particulars of what was going on here, but she knew that did not like the direction that events were taking all around her. Muku had found a new friend, this mysterious elf-girl named Rhea, and all at once it was like Sakura had been shunted off to mere sidekick status, as though she had been forcibly excluded from the picture, which she quite naturally resented, wanting to know just why this Rhea mattered so much more to Muku now than Sakura.

Her search of the neighborhood and Muku's favorite haunts had proven fruitless. Sakura had returned home hot and sweaty from her searches and decided a nice hot shower would do the trick of calming her down and helping her to relax a little. It turned out not to help in that regard, but it did at least leave her feeling a bit more clear-headed and-at least physically-relaxed. Time enough to take stock of what had happened the past few days, and why exactly she was so angry about things, other than the feeling of being tossed over the rail like yesterday's laundry.

She did remember something of what had happened ten years ago, the day she had almost lost her mother and younger brother to a rampaging duel of battling robot and giant monster. She could never quite look at a Tojo studios production without feeling a twinge of apprehension, as if expecting a giant foot to come crashing down on her house at any minute. (She often wondered why Tenma seemed to thrive on the bloody things, as if not remembering how near he had come to being paste in such a real-life battle.) She also remembered Aunt Two, who has seemed like a very nice person, for all that she had trouble smiling and was so serious much of the time when she studied the martial arts with Sakura's father. Two had seemed like a very respectable warrior, one you could look up to and admire...not like this Troi character, who was as wild and untamed as a raging Tsunami.

And then there was Rhea herself, a shy and introverted girl who nonetheless had a fierce streak of battle rage that had come out when she was defending Muku against Gel and that Nova character. The girl was polite, deferential and inhumanly pretty...which naturally made Sakura hate her on the spot. There was something about this girl that was just way too perfect for her tastes, and the way she fawned over Muku...

"Who is she?" Sakura hissed, pausing in the act of scrubbing down her body.

All at once a pair of hands went around from behind her back and cupped her breasts, causing Sakura to gasp and look down at them in amazement.

"You know, they say talking to yourself is a sign that you need to work out your problems," a now-familiar voice murmured in her ear, "Why don't you let me help to relax you, Cutie?"

"WHAT?" Sakura struggled against those hands that were now fondling her, but the strength of those arms was inhuman, and Troi just hugged her all the more tightly.

"Calm down, will ya?" Troi urged, "I won't bite...at least...not unless you want me to, that is..."

"Let me go!" Sakura insisted, continuing to struggle, only to find Troi released her voluntarily, which caused the brown haired Saotome to slip and stagger at the sudden loss of support. She lost her balance and started to fall when Troi's arms went around her once again, catching her in time and easing her down to the wet floor of the shower.

"Easy," Troi said, "You could hurt yourself doing that."

Sakura's eyes went wide with alarm, for now she could see that the pointy-eared elf-girl was just as naked as she was, having at some time shed her clothing. She also felt the press of the other woman's body down on hers as Troi straddled her and smiled in a pleasantly predatory manner.

"Now then," Troi mused, "What was that you were wanting to know about my niece?"

"W-What are you going to do...?" Sakura began to gasp.

Troi bent down until their faces were only a few inches away, holding Sakura's arms pinned above her head with no leverage to free herself as the silver-haired girl said, "What would you like me to do with you while you're in this position? I can think of a lot of things that come to mind...and I think You'd even enjoy it."

Sakura tried to remain calm as she said, "I'll scream."

"Well, if you like, go right ahead," Troi mused, "We can take this into Subspace, where no one will disturb us. Of course I'm not really going to force anything on you, Kid...not while we're under the same roof as your father."

"Why not?" Sakura tried to make her voice sound indifferent.

"Well, for one thing, that ain't my style," Troi replied, "I never have to force anyone to go to bed with me...at least not against their will. Also I have a great deal of respect for your old man, and anybody who could teach Two a thing or two about fighting ain't somebody I want to get down on my case. And three...I'd think I'd have more fun doing this with your mother...she's at least a lot more experienced than you are, not that I have anything against screwing a virgin..."

"What are you, some kind of pervert?" Sakura asked with a frown.

"I've been called worse than that, and by experts," Troi chuckled, "The thing is...I just want a chance to talk with you...and to get to know you a little better."

"You call this talking?" Sakura's eyes narrowed, only to go wide again as the other girl brought her pelvis down to lightly brush her bush against Sakura's.

"No," Troi replied, "I call this fucking...something we C'thuwulf do for a living. It's natural for us to do things girl/girl, not like you bisexual humans with your AC-DC choice in the matter. I know ways of making out that would rock your world, little girl...and if you give me a good enough reason, I might even consent to showing you how it's done."

"I thought you said you weren't going to force me?" Sakura asked.

"I'm only using enough force right now to keep you where I can keep things civil between us," Troi replied, "I've seen the way you fight, Kid...you're very good, a real credit to your old man. Of course I like a good scrap as much as the next Iczer, but there are lots more fun things that I can think to do with a pretty girl than try to redecorate her face. Besides...I'd have to be as dense as a brick not to know what's eating you out, and it's ain't your friend, Muku, which seems to be your problem."

"What are you talking about?" Sakura said with more alarm in her expression.

"You're jealous, Kid, I can see it in the way you snarl when you see my niece making goo-goo eyes at your Honey," Troi replied, her large crimson eyes wise and knowing, "You want her so bad you can almost taste the scent of her pussy, but you can't bring yourself to admit it since that clashes with your tough-girl image and your insistence on making yourself seem feminine even while you insist that you're not that much of a Tomboy."

"And what is it to you?" Sakura pouted.

"I am a Tomboy, and quite proud of the fact, thank you very much," Troi leered, "I'm what you'd be if you weren't so hung up about trying to pass as normal by the standards of your parents. It matters to me if you've got a beef with my niece because Rhea-chan's a good kid and deserves all the happiness that life can give her. You might screw things up if you try to come between them, or make Muku-chan have to choose between you."

"You think I'm some kind of Hentai?" Sakura's nostrils flared, "It doesn't matter to me if those two do screw each other or not...I'm not like that..."

"Like what?" Troi asked, "Like me? Tough titties, Kid...I'm gay, but I work around it. Of course some C'thuwulf do try it the Bi-way and find that they like it, but there's very few of us who ever go straight Hetero...it's like going against the grain of what we are, and nobody knows that more than us Iczers."

"But I'm not into girls," Sakura insisted, "In fact...I have a boyfriend, a fianc e..."

"Yeah, I've seen him, nice kid," Troi inclined her head in a smile, "Are you afraid of cheating on him? That's so sweet, in a monogamistic kind of way. What say we go visit him right now and the three of us can get it on together. Think he's the kind of guy who'd enjoy a good threesome?"

"Say what?" Sakura started.

"Mind you, I've got loads more experience in just about every type of sex that either one of you could imagine," Troi continued, "I can do the Vanilla kind, but my favorite is Tutee-Fruity with a dash of Neapolitan sandwich with a girl in the middle. Of course it's your call...I wouldn't think of dragging you into something that you didn't find a turn on."

"You're insane!" Sakura flared.

"I'm single," Troi countered, "That means I get to do whatever I want, unlike my two henpecked older sisters, who usually wind up doing whatever their mates want to do for an evening, lucky devils. Me, I have to take my jollies where I can find them..."

"Well, do it without me!" Sakura sputtered, only to find Troi poised over her, nose-to-nose, which held her fixed to the spot with a look like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Are you sure you really mean that?" Troi softly murmured, "It's not as bad as you seem to think it is, and if you'd come to terms with what you're really feeling you'd be a whole lot more happy for it, believe me."

"W-W-Why should I believe anything you say?" Sakura asked, disturbed at finding the other woman's breath on her face, close enough to actually tickle.

"Because I'd never lie on a first date," Troi replied, "A second or third...maybe. And I've never yet had an unsatisfied customer. I m maybe a 'love'em and leave 'em' type, but I never leave them disappointed, and you would be no exception."

For the first time Sakura looked actually frightened, but then Troi moved back and let go of her wrists, sitting up in the shower as the spray of warm water played off her magnificently well-endowed and perfectly proportioned body.

"You actually think I need to force myself with you?" Troi asked, "Look at you...you're trembling with desire...you're dying of curiosity, to know what it feels like, doing it with another woman. You've got all these teenaged, hormone-driven emotions stewing up inside you and you're hot enough for me to read you like a thermometer. It would be a crime for me to leave you like this, even if the one you're really hot to trot with is somewhere else, probably screwing around with my cute niece."

Sakura became aware that she was breathing deeply and her pulse was indeed racing, but she managed to steady herself when she heard that last part, her mind instantly filling with thoughts of Muku with Rhea, and it hardened her expression into a frown as she growled, "You're disgusting."

"No, I'm honest," Troi said, then curled up one bare leg to wrap her arms around it and rest her chin on her knee, "I really do like you...you've got fire and spirit and one heck of a great body. I just know I could make you sing like a harp if I went to town with you, and I'm dying to know if your pussy tastes as good as it smells from here. You human girls...you're just like Chinese food...a few minutes after you've had a few bites you get hungry for more..."

"What are you?" Sakura asked, "Are you...human?"

"I'm a Bioroid," Troi replied, "I'm mostly human, but I'm artificial in construction. Not that you'd be able to tell, of course, since I taste just like a real girl, and I don't taste at all like plastic. In fact, I have it on the best authority that my cum is a bit Lemony flavored with just a twist of sarsaparilla..."

"Really?" Sakura blinked, so surprised that she completely forgot about getting angry over the implications.

"Well...actually, I am about the sarsaparilla part," Troi grinned, making no pretense of the way she was eyeing Sakura's body like it was a road map, "But if you want to know for sure, just ask and I'll let you have a sample."

"But...but..." Sakura tried to form coherent thoughts as she sought to make sense of these revelations.

Troi unlimbered her knee and stretched out her legs, then curled them up as she leaned with her back against the wall of the shower, placing a hand over her pussy as she began to fondle her breasts with her other hand, closing her eyes slightly as she started to masturbate, which disturbed Sakura to no end, even as she found herself too much amazed to even think of making a protest. It did not take long at all before the silver-haired girl gasped and shuddered slightly, then smiled as she held up a hand, which same she was careful to keep clear of the descending shower water.

"Go ahead, have a sniff," Troi urged as she held her hand out for Sakura's inspection.

Sakura naturally flinched at first, but curiosity got the better of her and she finally held still as Troi brought to fingers up under her nose, then placed them on the other girl's lips, smearing them slightly, to which Sakura reflexively used her tongue and began to indeed "have a sample."

Much to her astonishment, the flavor was slightly salty yet very sweet, and it did indeed taste like a mixture of lemon and sarsaparilla, which furthered her amazement.

"You see?" Troi asked, "It's not so bad as you were thinking, and it's not disgusting to taste another girl's cum, it's perfectly natural, even for you humans."

Sakura sat upright and regarded the other woman, "But I'm not a lesbian..."

"Of course not," Troi replied, "You're Bi...which makes you pretty-much average for your half of the human species. There are very few real lesbians in your world relative to the general population, while among us C'thuwulf it's the majority inclination."

"The C'thuwulf?" Sakura asked, "You're from...another world?"

"A world that's long dead and lost to us," Troi replied, "Of course it was before my time, I've never been there, only seen it in simulation. Earth is now our home and we live here sharing this world with you humans, which is only natural since we share a common ancestor..."

"We do?" Sakura asked.

"Of course," Troi replied, "Humans are a lot more common in this galaxy than you might imagine. Long ago there was this star-faring mother race that died out and left us all to drift apart on different worlds, but now there are many planets where humans are the majority population, like the Jurai and the Oni, though genetic drift has tended to make these different branches of humanity into distinctively different sub-species. Of course there are a lot more alien races who think that humans are the gutter-trash of the spaceways, but we never associate with their kind either...the problem is that there's a limited number of inhabitable worlds that would fit our needs as a new home planet, and most of the places we've visited have a no-immigration clause. The only reason your governments let us move here was that we offered you guys access to technology and resources you couldn't get from any other star-faring civilization."

"So you're here...as our allies?" Sakura deduced.

"We're here as your friends and sisters among the stars," Troi smiled back, "And Rhea-chan is one of the first of a new generation who's half C'thuwulf and half-  
Terran, an Iczer who's destined to help us defend the fate of our planet."

"But...what has Muku to do with all this?" Sakura asked.

"Everything," Troi answered, "And Iczer is only as powerful as the bond she forms with her partner. I'm...kind of unique in that I can bond with multiple partners, share a bit of their emotional and psychic energy to fortify my own natural strength...but the truth is...I'm only half alive without a real full time partner. My older sisters both have life-committed partners who make them powerful and complete, but without a partner I can never be a whole Iczer."

"And Muku...is Rhea's partner?" Sakura slowly put it together.

"They're bonded, kid," Troi replied, "Heart, soul and all the flowers. Muku's the one person on this planet who's a perfect match for my niece's Biorhythms and Psychic resonance. Once the process has begun, there's no stopping it. Rhea's now attached at the hip to your friend Muku, and sooner or later you're gonna have to deal with that whether you like it or not. I'm just telling you this to spare you a lot of heartache and grief later."

Sakura's expression hardened for a moment and her nostrils flared as she quietly said, "What if I don't accept it?"

"Aw...is this jealousy I see?" Troi grinned, and all at once she teleported behind Sakura, who was astonished at finding those soft-yet-surprisingly strong arms going around her body once again, and this time Troi wasted no time fondling and playing with her nipples, "You're so sweet...I can see that same stubborn pride your father has showing through you, and I just know you'd want to fight for your Muku-chan like she's some prize in a tournament, but you really shouldn't waste your potential when you have someone like me who's hot for your body. Let me help you out, soothe your nerve, get you more in touch with your feminine side, get you off this uptight kick that's making you so crazy...just relax and put yourself in my arms...your Aunt Troi will show you that being with a woman can be lots more fun than you'd ever imagine."

This time Sakura found she could not resist, nor offer protest as one hand drifted down to caress her flat stomach muscles before sliding down to play with her bush. Sakura arched her back and only gave a half-hearted struggle as those fingers plied open her moist, pink womanhood and began to caress the tiny nub that was her clitoris. All the while Troi nuzzled her earlobe and did something with one of her nipples that caused Sakura to gasp in approval. There was no longer any energy left in Sakura's protests as she allowed herself to be fondled and nuzzled, the muscles in her legs tensing reflexively as sharp pleasurable waves began to course throughout her body.

"Eh?" Troi paused in the act of plunging two fingers into the now-moistened slit of Sakura's clitoris, and she glanced to the side with a slight frown, which promoted Sakura to gasp in surprised disappointment.

"What's wrong?" the other girl wondered, "Why did you stop?"

"I...thought I sensed something..." Troi frowned, but the sensation retreated, so she shook it off and resumed her instructive "lessons" in C'thuwulf lovemaking, which before too long had the other girl begging for more, no longer even pretending to be bothered about her seduction.

Outside the bathroom the boy named Tenma stood with eyes glowing slightly, hearing the sounds from within the bathroom as his "sister" was lovingly ravished by an all-too-eager Iczer. This new development was most disturbing indeed...it seemed that the Iczers were forming even closer ties to the humans, which could affect the plans of his Master and threaten the eventual program. This was too important not to relate at once to his superiors, and so he vanished from where he was standing, traveling via subspace to the Other Realm to make his report as per his instructions...

"Hello, anybody here?" a plaintive voice cried as a young boy named Saotome Tenma stumbled around in the discolored ruins of the semi-unreal place in which he had awakened, "Mom, Pop, Sis? Anybody? HELP!"

It was no use he already knew by now, everyone had gone and left him behind, abandoned as if forgotten amid the aftermath of a major battle. This made little sense to Tenma, who was certain that his family and friends would never abandon him if they had any choice in the matter, but he could not quite remember what had happened shortly after the building had started to collapse. He had awoken to find himself alone amid the ruins of his own house with no sign anywhere of other life, just the twisted ruins of an unreal version of Nerima, which he knew to be patently false, some kind of simulation, like a movie set in three-D that he was somehow trapped inside. He understood how such things worked, of course, because it was just something out of one of his favorite sci-  
fi shows, and yet it seemed real, which was in no way a comforting concept.

After all, he knew well enough what happened to small boys who got trapped up in alien worlds and pocket dimensions...it was standard fare for Saturday Morning episodes of Kamen Ranger. Even older TV shows from the late 20th century had used this standard plot device in order to provide the hero (or heroes, in some cases) with a challenging playing field in which to have some monstrous encounter with a rubber-suited bad guy.

"Great," he murmured to himself, "And I don't even have my kitchen gear! Wish I could have one of Mom's Okonomiyaki right now...I'm starving!"

Actually he wasn't really starving, a fact he noted with some surprise since he had been in this weird pocket dimension for at least several hours. By rights he should have been tired and thirsty, but the only hunger pangs he had were the type he brought with him when he had joined the others in the dojo. Now that he had nothing but his practice gi to wear he was not even cold nor sweaty, as though his body was in a naturally preserved state, rather like a dreamscape, only solid enough that it hurt when he tested his fist against a wall sometime back.

The actual reason he wanted some okonomiyaki was because it would remind him of his mother, something comforting and familiar to help him stave off a different sort of chill that came from wandering around in such an awful place. To take his mind off of his nervousness (as a Saotome he refused to accept that he was afraid of anything) he tried to imagine a helping dish of his favorite food, piping hot with the crust just right and the cheeses melted at the center with all the ingredients that he liked best, an okonomiyaki to remember, good enough that-as he cupped his hands-he could almost taste and smell it before him...

And then-to his utter surprise-an okonomiyaki appeared in his hands as if by magic!

"Nani?" Tenma blinked, staring down at the thing in utter amazement. It took a moment for him to sort out the fact that he was indeed holding one of his mother's specials and that he could even smell its aroma...which made him forget all about propriety as he ravenously bit into the thing, eating it up in a flash and confirming that it was not only solid but had an excellent flavor.

"Whoah," he said as he paused, a few minutes after licking off his fingers, "How did I do that?" It took a few moments more of fathoming it out for himself, but-as a true veteran of countless TV and Anime programming-he came up with what he thought was a reasonable explanation...that something in this dimension had responded to his thoughts and had summoned up an okonomiyaki.

"I wish for a million yen!" he cried out, but nothing happened, which left him faintly disgusted. Then he thought again had occurred when the okonomiyaki appeared and realized that he had been doing more than just think of an okonomiyaki...he had visualized it and willed one to appear. He tried again and-this time-a thousand yen note appeared in his outstretched hand, at which point he exulted, thinking that this was exactly the sum of money he needed to buy that new game cube he'd been after for a month.

What else could he summon if he willed it? Well, the next part was easy, and a few seconds later he had his Baker's Peel in hand, smaller than the one used by his sister but nonetheless a quite formidable weapon, which helped him to feel somewhat more secure about his current situation.

"Cool!" he grinned as he tested the balance of his weapon, finding it excellently light yet quite effective for doing katas.

All at once he tensed, sensing that he was no longer alone. Tenma slowly turned around, trying not to betray any nervousness as he felt the presence growing nearer. All at once a creature detached itself from the ruins of a building, one of those hideous Venomoids that had attacked him and the others in the dojo, and all at once it formed tentacle-like appendages and started to move threateningly forward.

Tenma reacted according to training, his bakers peel whizzing out to shear through those tendrils as he leaped away to give himself more distance. The creature was hardly deterred and took another swipe at him, but Tenma was faster and more agile than the thing had imagined, and once again the boy managed to keep his distance, recalling that the girl named Troi had warned against letting the thing touch him in any way.

Of course he quickly reasoned that his bakers peel had one major disadvantage in that one had to get close to an enemy in order to use it to best effect. Throwing it at the enemy would just mean disarming himself...he needed something with a bit more distance, and throwing spatulas did not seem like the thing that would do the trick.

Again a thought came to mind, "What would Kamen Ranger do?" and once more the answer was too obvious to miss: "Get a bigger weapon!"

Tenma concentrated as he back-flipped out of the way of another attack, slinging the baker's peel over his back as he tried to imagine and will into being a Photonic Blaster, the kind that needed two hands to wield, and in a flash he gripped one in both hands, holding it up like a weapon at an arcade game as he pointed it and pulled the trigger.

Nothing happened, which was where Tenma belatedly realized his error...he had to WILL the gun to work as it would not work all on its own, so he concentrated again as the Venomoid attempted to close on his position, imaging a huge burst of Chi erupting from within the weapon.

This time it worked...and the Venomoid was caught full-on by a "Photonic Burst" that bathed it in blinding white radiance, and like a flash the creature died, disintegrated so abruptly that it hardly left more than a white outline in passage.

Tenma stood where he was, panting for several second, waiting for his heartbeat to die down from the adrenaline-boosted high of a moment ago. Very slowly he straightened out when no further sense of menace loomed near him, then with a huge smile he declared, "And Pop thinks stuff like this could never happen in real life..."

Iczer Two-or "Duella," as she was reluctantly coming to know herself to be-  
stared out the window looking down on Tokyo city, almost not being able to recognize her own reflection looking back at her with such a curious expression. The light green ball gown she wore was shoulderless and daring, setting off her floor-length red hair and matching crimson eyes to good effect, even as the emeralds which she wore in her necklace seemed to catch the starlight and sparkle like the lights of the city itself. The human metropolis had such a life to it that she wondered how she could ever have missed the significance of so many humans living so close together...and each of them with their own personal story to be told.

She wondered how many of those stories involved romance and true love, the twin joys that she was currently experiencing, then smiled all the more as the thought of so much love in the air made her feel misty-eyed and curiously maudlin for some strange reason.

"Sister?" a concerned voice asked, even as Troi glanced at the second reflection to appear within the mirror-like surface of the restaurant window, her elder sister, Iczer One (or Unus, as "Duella" thought with some amusement), looking magnificently radiant in a blue dress that played off her blonde hair in a highly aesthetic manner. As with Iczer Two, Iczer One's gown was shoulderless and revealing, for all that the hem-length came near enough to brushing against the floor.

"Hai, Oneechan?" Iczer Two responded.

"You seem pensive for some reason," Iczer One noted, "Why aren't you dancing with Sayoko?"

"I will...in another minute," Iczer Two replied, thinking to herself what a marvelous idea it had been to choose a fancy restaurant that allowed ballroom dancing, "I was just...thinking about..."

"Nova?" Iczer One inquired, "Or those Bioroids that called themselves the Sisters of the Comet?"

"A little of both, really," Iczer Two responded, "The thought that I could have a daughter...by Nagisa of all people...it is a bit hard to accept..."

"Why?" Iczer One smiled, "Do you think that I would be jealous? Don't forget, Imoutochan, I know how much you longed for a partner before you found your Sayoko..."

"And I was jealous of the bond that existed between you and Nagisa," Iczer Two confessed, "And yet now I cannot imagine what life would be like without Sayoko. She is as much a part of me as my own heart, and I wouldn't change a thing about her. Still...I can't ignore the fact that this Nova truly is my daughter..."

"The enemy created her from your cellular imprint...and combined yours with Nagisa," Iczer One marveled, "That makes her partially Nagisa's child, which would mean that Rhea has a sister. In a way that makes her as much my child as yours...does that make any kind of sense to you?"

"As close to anything in our world," Iczer Two remarked, pausing before she could add, "And that conjures up an even more disturbing thought...that the both of us could share a child in common."

"Yes," Iczer One declared, "That is...rather disturbing...but in a say that I don't find particularly unpleasant. Do you?"

"What do you think?" Iczer Two half-smiled without turning around, "Still and all, with all that has gone before, I cannot completely forget that I was created with the purpose to destroy you...a purpose I have long since repented. Now I think of you as my other half, every bit as much a part of me as my Iczer Robo. I cannot imagine a world that does not have you in it, my sister...or Nagisa for that matter. We are...a family...and I find that most satisfying."

Iczer One thought she detected something odd in the reflection of her sister's face and asked, "Sister...are you...crying...?"

"Don't be silly," Iczer Two half-smiled, "A bit of trickle from my ocular sensors...perhaps I got something in my eye on the way here. Still...I must confess to you that I am...happy in a way that I have not been since I can remember."

"Happy?" Iczer One inclined her head and gave her younger sibling a curious expression.

"Yes," Iczer Two replied, "For all that we are about to face another major war against an enemy we both loathe with all of our being, I still cannot help but feel...satisfied with the many turns my life has taken since my creation many years back. I have a life and cause to serve that gives me great pride and satisfaction, I have Sayoko-in whom all of my fondest wishes are realized-  
and now, somewhere, I have a daughter. True she is a thrall to our enemy, and doubtlessly filled with the sort of lies and hate that once filled my being, entirely of Big Gold's foul creation...but there is a possibility for her...just as there was for me. I have to live in the hope that she can be redeemed...and that I will not have to destroy her. If anything, it means that a child of Sayoko's is possible for us...and that is something to look forward to in the future."

"So...you're planning on becoming a mother," Iczer One smiled fondly, "Congratulations."

"How could I deny anything to Sayoko...or myself the pleasure that you have found in your little Rhea," Iczer Two turned around to face her counterpart sibling, "Understand, it has been one of my greatest joys in playing mentor to little Rhea...she has been a most satisfying apprentice, but now that she is growing up and becoming a woman, it is likely that she will have less need for my services, so it is time that I found myself another apprentice...this time one of my own offspring."

"If we can save Nova from Big Gold, Sister," Iczer One replied, "You have my pledge that all will be done to achieve this."

"Thank you," Iczer Two replied, pausing to study the way the diamond-studded necklace around Iczer One's neck caught and played with the light and offset the golden radiance of her hair, "You truly are a beautiful woman, my sister...I am...pleased that we are no longer enemies but such good friends."

"That is to my joy as well," Iczer One replied, "These last ten years of working beside you have been most...enjoyable...and I could ask for no firmer ally. You truly are...my beloved sister."

Iczer Two's mouth trembled slightly in a smile, but then she sighed and leaned her back against the glass pane, turning her profile to the starlight as she murmured, "You were right before...I do pity those four sisters of the Comet. Fools though they were, and hopelessly outmatched by us, they did not deserve such a fate. They are nothing more nor less than what Neos made them, and to toss them aside so callously as that...as though her own children hardly mattered..."

"Neos was among the worst spawn Big Gold ever created," Iczer One agreed, "They never had any choice in what they became, the evil inside them was nothing more than Gold's reflection."

"That is because Big Gold is nothing more than a Virus with pretensions of being an Avatar," Iczer Two remarked, "In truth she did not create her offspring, rather she copied herself and spread her evil out to the stars, just like any other time of infection, living only to further her own evil. And to think that I once was foolish enough to believe that such a foul being was my true mother..."

"You are a child of the Iczerio," Iczer One replied, "The same as me...though we both had different biological parents."

"And mine was one who perished at your hands," Iczer Two mused softly, "If anything I should be referring to Cobalt as my mother. It was her death that gave birth to me...all part of Gold's twisted plans for using poor Sepia as a pawn in your destruction. She thought that the part of me that was Cobalt would naturally bond with her as my partner, only I lacked Cobalt's true spirit, and when I showed my true evil it repelled her and turned her against me. Sepia died that time because of my evil..." Iczer Two glanced down, "I am ashamed of myself for having to remember that...and what an irony it was that the one I sought to kill that time was none other than Sayoko..."

"But it's all in a past that never was," Iczer One replied, "Cobalt and Sepia are very much alive now, and living out their lives as the Goddess had intended."

"Because you changed our past to make it as if it never happened," Iczer Two looked up to regard her counterpart, "But I am from that original timeline, the same as you. Neos drew me from the virtual world of my death and repaired me, using the Iczerio to bring me back to life. Somehow this must mean that the world you voided still exists on some other level of existence, and it is from that evil, doomed timeline that our current enemies must hail. Neos and Gold are a part of that universe, and that means that we have only just begun to scratch the surface of their evil."

"You may be right about that," Iczer One replied, "That would mean, in some sense, that all of this is my doing...my fault...and all because I wanted Nagisa to live and to have the sort of normal life that she deserved..."

"No one will ever blame you for that," Iczer Two straightened out, "Least of all me. I stand resolved to fight beside you, Sister, and in the coming battle we will triumph over Gold and her evil spawn. No matter what foul constructs they send against us, we will never abandon our quest, and I will fight all the more determined because I know that you are flesh of my flesh and heart of my heart. There is nothing that separates us now, One...not even time itself. Now and forever you are my sister."

"As you are mine," Iczer One placed a hand on the redhead's exposed shoulder, their eyes gleaming with shared intensity as they smiled at one another while the elder of the two of them said, "My Sister."

Sayoko and Nagisa smiled as they watched their partners from the vantage of their table, then Sayoko leaned closer and said, "See what I mean? Just like I told you."

"You were right as usual," Nagisa agreed, "Guess that means you win the bet."

"So you've no objections to my plans then?" the other girl smiled in a typically impish manner.

"As if I wasn't thinking the same thing a few moments ago," Nagisa grinned, "We'll never have a better opportunity than the present."

"Right," Sayoko said, and the two of them stood up together, even as Sayoko left a credit card with the waiter.

Iczers One and Two sensed the approach of their significant others just moments before turning to see the near identical expressions on Sayoko and Nagisa's faces. Before either Bioroid could voice the question, Nagisa spoke first and said, "We've decided."

"You two are coming with us," Sayoko cheerfully noted.

"Where are we going now?" Iczer One inquired, hoping privately that their delightful evening was not yet over.

"We are going to a hotel," Nagisa replied, "We've already made a reservation."

"A hotel?" Iczer Two blinked twice, "But...why not just return to our homes in New Gamora?"

"Oh no," Sayoko replied, still grinning, "We're getting as far away from any office work as we can take you while still remaining on the planet."

"No shop talk, no special assignments, no missions and no excuses," Nagisa agreed, "Just the four of us sharing a room together...with only one bed."

"Only one bed?" it was Iczer One's turn to blink, "But..."

"...Which of us will be sleeping on the floor?" Iczer Two finished for her.

"Who said anyone was sleeping on the floor?" Sayoko chuckled, "The bed we've rented is Queen sized."

"Queen..."

"...Sized?" said the two Iczers.

"That's right," Nagisa chuckled, "One bed, the four of us...you do the math."

"Come along, Darlings," Sayoko urged, "And no excuses. Time for us to really get bonded like a big, happy family unit."

The two human girls turned away and began sauntering off, walking side-by-side with matching exaggerated hip motions, leaving the two Iczers to stare in amazement as they slowly began to work out the finer points of what their mutual mates were planning.

"Two," Iczer One said after a moment.

"Hai?"

"Do you think we should start running now?"

"I think it is far too late for that."

"That's what I figured," and then Iczer One smiled at Iczer Two, and the both of them linked hands together, knowing by now that it was impossible to resist fate, let alone refuse the "suggestions" of their partners, who always seemed to win any argument that ever cropped up...and besides...curiosity was not just a human quality these days. They had a lot yet to be discovered and explored about the true nature of their relationship, and what it all meant to be "sisters" of the Iczerio.

Unbeknownst to anyone, least of all them, a slender chord that had been attached all the while to the window detached itself just then and was reeled in by its owner, who stood several blocks away on top of another tall building.

Fiber retracted her line, having overheard the conversation of the two Iczers. There was a lot to be contemplated, given the many revelations that had been disclosed, but not the least of which were those most disturbing permutations that arose simply from hearing two former enemies converse like the best of friends. It was confusing and bewildering...the thought that those two were as powerful as they were, and yet preferred nothing more than to be domestic pets to their pet humans.

Fiber did not understand why anyone would want a partner in the first place, let alone a human. Humans were so...fragile and temporary...and she had killed enough of them in her time to be quite expert on the subject of that frailty. She did not need a partner, had not been designed with one in mind, had always felt sufficient in herself and had never truly wanted for companionship. She was a solitary construct, a Bioroid created to use her webs for the purpose of destruction...and yet next to these two she might as well have been a used up piece of junk...

Exactly as her creator had deemed her, which brought a frown to Fiber's beautiful features, knowing that she had been cast off and abandoned by the one who had given her life...

Or...so she had believed until that moment. Though she never thought of Neos as a mother, unconsciously she had regarded her that way, which made her former death at the hands of Neos that much more painful on reflection. To be downgraded by her own creator was...disappointing. And yet what other fate could she have expected from Neos, given her appalling failure against Iczer Three...the self-named Troi of the present?

But then she thought a moment and realized that there was a flaw in her analysis. In truth she had needed someone...three someones to be precise, her fellow Sisters of the Comet, who had been just as callously turned to scrap by a vengeful Neos. Thinking back on their battle against the Iczers, Fiber could not help but feel that there had been a great injustice...Neos blaming them for the poor design of their Mecha, which had proven vastly inferior to the Iczer Robos. It could not be the fault of the pilots that they were outclassed and overwhelmed...Neos had miscalculated the strength of the opposition, and in doing so had given Fiber and her siblings a false sense of security when laying their ambush...

And now that she truly thought on the matter, it seemed clear enough to Fiber that Neos had sent them into battle fully expecting them to lose. How else to explain the ease with which Neos accepted the defeat of her minions but to conclude that their battle had been nothing more than a testing feint. Neos had sent them into that fight in order to learn how strong the enemy was, with no real hope that Fiber and the others would emerge the victors.

"You have one chance to redeem yourselves before you can be admitted back into my service," Neos had declared upon their recent revival, "Defeat Iczers One and Two using your Mecha, and then you will be elevated back into the ranks of my elite forces. You have the means of achieving victory, so do not fail me again or you will be returned to the dust from whence I found you."

Was even that a lie? How had Neos brought them back from the grave when Fiber and her sisters had been complete and effectively destroyed. What power had been used to reconstitute them and restore them to full health? Could it be that even this was the result of borrowed energies stolen from the C'thuwulf by the one whom Neos served, the one she called her mother?

Fiber made a fist and smashed it against the side of the building, not even noticing the huge hole she created in so doing. They had been used as pawns from the beginning...they were created as tools of destruction, nothing more, and deployed like Chess Pieces on a board. They were nothing more than clay dolls molded for destruction, and when they had failed in their purpose they were cast aside and trampled under foot with no more thought than one might have in stepping on an insect.

Insect...she would appreciate this irony, surely! Fiber found herself remembering her haughty and twisted chitinous-armored sister, the one who called mere bugs her "children" and who delighted so much in battle that even her fellow Comet sisters considered her bloodthirsty.

Bigro and her pet...how they mocked at life and scoffed at death, working as a team to destroy anyone and anything that stood against them. There was such a haughtiness about her large-eared sibling, the confident way she would go into battle as if assured of victory and the sweet smell of destruction. How devoted she was to her Iota, the great beast whose appetite to kill exceeded even that of its Mistress.

And lastly Golem, their leader and a premier engine of destruction in her own right. Golem has the ability to alter any part of herself into a weapon, and who would allow nothing to come between her and whatever she targeted for elimination. Such pride and fierceness housed in a gleaming steel shell of armor, and under their leadership they had ravaged entire star systems with no enemy able to stand against them.

And now that they were all dead a most amazing thing occurred to Fiber...she actually missed them. True they had their differences, and they often fought like regular sisters, but...they were like a family, after a fashion...

She stopped that line of thought in its tracks...but still she could not help thinking how odd the conversation had been between them. How could two warriors with such formidable records be conversing with such casual ease such critical issues as their personal affairs and the defense of their home base? How could they display such...concern for a vanquished enemy, even pitying her and her sisters as though they were lost comrades? It made no sense to Fiber and ran contrary to everything that she had ever believed...

Or was that truly what she thought...or were the ideas in her head the product of Neos's programming? It was all so terribly confusing...and yet what was clear was that Fiber no longer had a place in the war...neither as a minion to Neos nor as an enemy to the C'thuwulf. There was no point in continuing the battle...she was as good as dead if Neos ever set eyes on her again, and with that thought in mind she returned to subspace, vanishing from the spot to nurse her wounds and plan her next course of action...all the better to think over everything that had happened to her of late and decide whether or not she had any purpose in continuing her existence, or any hope of ever again finding meaning to her life as everything in which she had believed was turned to dust all around her

And-as she vanished from the spot-yet another unseen figure looked up from their point of concealment, then triggered a communication link and said, "Victor One to Tiger's Lair, the Birdy has flown the coop, no further activity detected in this sector."

"Affirmative, Victor One," came the response that only the agent could hear with her communications gear, "We mark the splash, the Birdy has made her exit. Return to Lair."

"Acknowledged, Victor One out," the agent replied, then nodded to herself as she turned and scanned the distant high rise that contained a certain restaurant, murmuring softly under her breath, "Sleep well, Samurai-ko, for tomorrow we may have yet another battle."

And then the agent touched her homing badge and waited for a minute, vanishing from the spot mere seconds later as she was recalled to base, leaving not even a ripple in the night to mark her passing...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/C'thuwulf Manage-a-toi plus one: shadowmane

As liaisons and affairs take place all around them, the blissfully unawares main couple of this story cruise the boulevard of Nerima, but is all blissfully quiet in paradise, and what of Sakura's brother...and the agent that has supplanted him? Find out next time in: "A Quiet Interloper," or "Having a Little Fiber in your Diet." Be there!

X -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	14. Chapter 14

Earthchild14

The Earthchild

(An Iczer/Ranma Crossover)

by Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi &amp; Others)

Chapter Fourteen.

LEMON ALERT-MILD HENTAI MATERIAL ENCLOSED. CONTAINS SCENES OF A SOMEWHAT ADULT NATURE THAT MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR THOSE WHO OBJECT TO A FREE EXCHANGE OF BODILY FLUIDS...YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Yui paused as she began to cross into the darkened parkway, all too aware that the shadows surrounding her had eyes, and those eyes were gleaming in a hostile demeanor. At once she fell into a defensive crouch, then with deceptive calm declared, "Well? What are you waiting for? I'm waiting."

The attack was swift, certain and deadly, and had they been facing a normal opponent the Venomoids might have overwhelmed her before she could even erect her guard. However, Yui-as if it needs be pointed out-was anything but a "normal" opponent, and her defense was far swifter and more ruthless, fueled as it was by the barely contained berserker fury of a trained Hibiki backed with the power of a Senshi Shinto Priestess.

Razor sharp Ofudo strips were in her hand and launched into the air before the attack was fully commenced, then Yui unfolded her umbrella and revealed that it had more Ofudo strips lining its heavy iron frame...Cold Iron, to be precise, the traditional bane of all things Demonic and evil. Having the magnetic properties of a lodestone, it tended to go right through the usual psychic armor that surrounded things of a magical nature, and this proved no exception for the hapless Venomoids who wound up being sliced and dissected by the whirling maelstrom of Priestly magics which accompanied the thrust of said umbrella.

Yui wasted no time in casting her deadly weapon out like a whirling top to wreak its havoc among her attackers, then she fell back into a secondary crouch and began chanting, calling forth her energies as two dark forms rose up from her body, taking the form of a two condor-sized Ravens, which began to wreck their own style of havoc among her by-now confused and luckless Venomoid assailants. The Ravens, Deimos and Phobos, wove an unbreakable pattern of defense around their Mistress while she continued to chant, calling forth new powers that lay hidden and dormant within her. A moment later they parted ways and cleared a path for their now-transformed Mistress, who stood tall and proud in a seifuku-  
styled outfit, and around whom the flames of her rage began to mount like a rising inferno.

"BY THE POWER OF MARS AND ALL THE FIRES OF HEAVEN-BEGONE YOU DARK SPIRITS OF THE NEGATIVE PLANES!" she cried in a voice that resonated with power.

Her flames fanned out like a ring to surround her and engulf those remaining Venomoids unfortunate enough to stay around for the final show. Just like that they were utterly consumed and reduced to mere ashes, leaving the surrounding vegetation unharmed as though the flames were entirely selective in what they chose to burn. Within a moment the park was clean of all evil resonance, and the transformed Yui smiled in grim satisfaction, having banished away her stalkers for one evening.

Almost effortlessly she reached up a hand as the handle to her whirling umbrella returned to her, much like Mjolnir, the legendary hammer of Thor, and though the thing weighed a good two hundred pounds easy, she handled it as though it were a baton, lowering it to the ground as she allowed the power to retreat back inside her, like a flaming sword finding its sheath. Another moment later her seifuku was gone, leaving Yui in her Shinto attire, backpack in place into which she returned her umbrella.

Of course her brief display of fireworks attracted attention from some passers by, and as Yui turned to look she saw Muku, Yumi and the girl Rhea running towards her in great haste. Muku smiled in relief when she saw her friend was the cause of all the excitement and said, "Yui-chan...are you all right?"

"Of course," Yui replied, umbrella back in hand and used like a pointer, "And what have you to say for yourself, Senzenen? I've been looking all over for you, and so have the others! Don't tell me Yumi found you before I did?"

"Ah...sorry about that," Muku made a calming gesture, "I've been...kind of busy myself. Didn't mean to worry anybody...next time I'll give you a ring on your cell phone."

"Ew," Yumi took notice of the dying trace of ashes littering the grounds and said, "Somebody make an ash out of themselves? Don't tell me you've had a run in with those monsters too?"

"Too?" Rhea looked at her curiously.

"Oh...ah...yeah, but they were no problem," Yumi made a placating gesture of her own, "I just gave them the cold shoulder, not like Hotlips here. Yui tends to set the town on fire if you get her too riled up."

"Er...right," Muku replied, once again wondering why there was no one she considered "normal" in her life, including her girlfriends, "I'm sorry if you guys are being hassled on my account..."

"I'm used to it," Yui said indifferently, turning to Rhea, "And what have you to say for yourself, keeping Muku-chan out late until after hours?"

"Ah...excuse me?" Rhea blinked.

"We were going out mall hopping, Potato-head," Yumi chided, "Then we'll stop by the sporting center. You don't need to give Rhea-chan here the third degree, I've already quizzed her and she checks out just fine."

"She does?" Muku asked, turning a nervous look in her other friend's direction.

"Oh sure," Yumi said, taking a non-plussed Rhea by the arm and saying, "She's cool...like one of the buds. Okay, so she's got a few mysterious secrets and probably comes from some place where the eyes and ears work as a fashion statement, but other than that she's okay, isn't that right, Rhea-chan?"

"Um...well...if you accept me as I am, then...I see no problem," Rhea replied with a bit of reluctance.

"Groovy," Yumi grinned at her own retro-hip expression, then added, "Then let's all shake hands and be friends from this day forward...after all, we're fighting on the same side of humanity and all that, right?"

"Um...I guess," Muku wondered if they were all on the same page, but one was never too sure about that when they were talking with Yumi.

"I see no reason to regard her as a friend...just because she may not be an enemy," Yui snorted, giving Rhea a suspicious lookover, "You may not intend mischief, but mischief attends you like robe, and no matter what you may or may not have so far chosen to reveal to Muku-chan, I doubt that she is fully prepared for everything that is involved in your offer of friendship."

"But...I would never willingly harm Muku-chan," Rhea defended, "She is my partner..."

"Which is precisely what we would like to discuss with you, Miss Kano."

Muku wondered precisely when she was going to get used to all these sudden dramatic interruptions, or of mysterious strangers appearing out of no where to say dramatic lines like that, but as she turned to regard the newest speaker she was amazed at hearing Rhea gasp in recognition, for the man standing before them in a Nehru-style pale shirt was a somewhat tall and silver haired gaijin flanked by two other figures dressed all in black with three-piece suits and dark sunglasses. Those two appeared to be Japanese men of indeterminate age, but the one in authority was clearly the silver-haired gaijin.

"General Straker?" Rhea asked, causing Yumi to turn and eye the Bioroid with amazement.

"Hello, Rhea-chan," the white haired gentleman replied, "It's been a while, hasn't it? You've grown so much since the last time."

"General Straker?" Yumi gasped, "You mean...the head of SHADO, the International intelligence agency dealing with paranormal defenses, said to be headquartered in London?"

"Eh?" the man in question replied, "You...know about us?"

"Um...just by reputation," Yumi gave a charming smile and made a deflecting gesture, "I take it the other two guys are MIB agents P and Q?"

The silver haired man turned to regard the gentlemen in question. Both shrugged in a matter-of-fact sort of way before one said, "We're...familiar with the family, General."

"You might say we know a lot about their parents," the other agent replied, "Got a file on them as thick as a..."

"Ahem" General Edward Straker said in his American-accented Japanese, "As I was saying...nice to see you again, Rhea-chan. Your parents must be very proud of the way you've been developing of late, but the reason I'm here is that I've recently gotten the word that you've acquired for yourself a partner."

"Ah...yes sir," Rhea indicated Muku, then went to stand directly beside her, "Muku-chan is the one whom I have chosen."

"By which I take it to mean that she matches your criteria to a fault," the man nodded in faint satisfaction, "Ordinarily I'd say, 'congratulations,' but with the recent Venomoid activity that's been detected in Japan...well...I'm sure you can see how our agencies are concerned about the implications."

"And well you should be, Sir," Rhea replied, "They are a threat to the security of the entire planet."

"We know," Straker replied, "I'm not here to interfere with you or to express anything less than total confidence in what you C'thuwulf are doing to insure the enemy is contained before it can spread beyond Tokyo. The problem is that we have already lost a number of agents to Venomoid attacks, and that's even with the special precautions we've taken on advice from your parents. Considering the potential casualty tolls that might result from a mass infection, we need to coordinate better between our various agencies in order to overcome the potential threat. I'm sure you'll be willing to convey my sentiments on this to your folks and your people."

"They already know that we must share the defense of this world, General," Rhea replied, "Be assured, we will fully cooperate in every way possible for the sake of our two peoples."

"I know you'll do your part," Straker replied, "It comes with being an Iczer. The one I'm concerned about, though, is your partner, who could be the weak link in your defenses. Senzenen Muku Dori...are you fully aware of what is at stake here, and while the security of our world may well depend on your acceptance of your role as Rhea-chan's partner?"

"Um...sort of," Muku replied, "Forgive me asking this...General? But...how exactly do you know Rhea?"

"I ought to know her," Straker smiled, "She's my Goddaughter."

"His...Goddaughter?" Yumi responded while Muku just gaped.

"Does this mean...you are a friend to her parents?" Yui wondered.

"I'm the one who sponsored her biological 'father' for joint citizenship on our world," Straker replied, "My agency has benefited enormously from an exchange of C'thuwulf technology...we're far more able to do our job as international watchdogs for Alien attacks as a consequence of their actions. Of course MIB had a somewhat different view about letting several million new potential citizens immigrate into our world..."

"We still do have reservations," Agent P remarked.

"Comes with the territory," Agent Q further noted.

"Yes, well..." Straker turned back to Muku and said, "Miss Senzenen...I know it is a lot to ask of you, but fate seems to have singled you out for an unusual destiny, and while I can't ask you to make the sort of sacrifices that will probably result from your decision, it is crucial for you to know how much is at stake here. It's not fair and I'd hardly think it appropriate to trust such responsibility to someone your age, but life is seldom fair or what we want it to be. I've been in this business for a very long time, most of my life, as a matter of fact, and I know what the consequences can be if we don't set certain things in priority over our personal lives. I trust you will be able to choose responsibly when the time comes to make that decision."

"Decision?" Muku repeated.

"About whether or not you will accept your place as Rhea's partner," Straker replied, starting to turn away, "Take your time and think about it, but don't take too much time. The enemy knows about you and won't hesitate to eliminate you if you give them half a chance. I'll be in touch with you again later, and I'll leave it up to your discretion whether or not we should inform your parents. Good day now..." he paused and glanced at one of the two dark-clad agents, who seemed to be innocently pulling a pocket pen out of his coat, and then white haired older man growled, "Put that away...we won't need it here. Besides, they already seem to know enough about us..."

The four young girls remained standing where they were in the park while they watched the two dark clad men and the silver-haired foreigner head back to a parked limousine, then watched as it took off vertically instead of horizontally and vanished into the night, leaving hardly more than a breeze in its passage.

"Whoah," Yumi said after a moment, "That sure wasn't included on their web page..."

"Web page?" Yui looked at her with an odd expression.

"Oh sure," Yumi smiled brightly, "You find just about anything on the Net. I'll bet General icy glare doesn't even know his agency has a Website."

Muku glanced at Rhea and asked, "THAT was your godfather?"

Rhea nodded, "General Straker...is someone very close to my family, one of the few agency heads who genuinely seems to like us."

Yumi turned a sly look her way and said, "I noticed you weren't as shy around him as you were around Godai and Kenny..."

"Ah...but he's a mature man...and a very important officer in the Earth Defenses," Rhea replied, "But those other two are...boys..." she shuddered slightly.

Muku heaved a sigh and said, "Guess I can't blame you too much for that...they give me the same shivers sometimes, especially when I see Ken playing around with that damned camera of his..."

Yui turned to regard her friend and said, "Speaking of the others we know, where are Sakura and the others about? And why were you shopping so late in the evening?"

"Sakura?" Muku shrugged, "Haven't seen her since this morning...but as for the shopping..."

"We're getting her friend Rhea here something nice to wear, a new change of clothing," Yumi replied, "Also...I asked my Mom for permission and she said it was all right for me to sleep over at Muku's place, just as soon as I ask her parents. What about you? Planning on camping out again with all those Venomoid guys lurking about?"

"I can handle myself," Yui sniffed, "Besides...I have a house..."

"Which you hardly ever seem to find on your own, even using your Mom's GPS homing device," Yumi pointed out.

"It's...broken," Yui indifferently grunted.

"So why don't you come with us and maybe join us for a sleepover?" Yumi asked, "I'm sure Muku-chan won't mind, right?"

"Huh?" Muku blinked, "Um...well..."

"There you go," Yumi nodded as if receiving confirmation, "Then the four of us can all get snuggled down and we can get to learn more about you, Rhea...like...where you come from, what your favorite hobbies are, and what the weather's like on your planet."

"Er...well..." Rhea seemed more than slightly flustered about that.

"Good enough, now...off we go to find you something nice to wear...that outfit you've got on is like something out of an Anime show," Yumi linked arms with both Yui and Muku, all but dragging them along as she whistled the tune to "We're off to See the Wizard," leaving Rhea to follow along behind with a most perplexed expression...

"I SEE...SO YOU ARE SAYING THAT THE ICZERS ARE GROWING CLOSER TO THE ONES WHO SURROUND THIS GIRL NAMED SENZENEN MUKU DORI, AND THAT ONE OF THEM HAS TAKEN A PERSONAL INTEREST IN A CLOSE FRIEND WHO MAY POSSIBLY EVEN BE A RIVAL?"

"Hai, Gold-sama," the agent reported, bowing low on one knee with head downcast before the Throne of Glory upon which sat his awesome Lord and Master, "It may even be that Iczer Three considers her as a potential temporary host partner, though I do not think that synchronization between them is likely to be achieved."

"DO NOT THINK, MY MINION...THAT IS RISING ABOVE YOUR STATION. YOUR DUTY IS TO OBSERVE AND REPORT BACK TO ME, NOTHING ELSE BEYOND THIS. LEAVE IT TO YOUR BETTERS TO DECIDE IF THE INFORMATION YOU RELATE HAS VALUE OR NOT."

"Of course, my Lord," the agent (who only looked like Tenma) hastily amended, "I wouldn t think to presume to inform you of what elements may be crucial to your plans. I only observed that the Iczer seemed unusually taken with this human and may be considering pairbonding to establish a temporary link, such she has used in the past..."

"AN INTERESTING SPECULATION, BUT-AS YOU SAY-FULL SYNCHRONIZATION IS UNLIKELY TO OCCUR AS A RESULT OF THIS TEMPORARY DELIANCE. IT IS TROUBLING THAT THE ENEMY APPEARS TO BE GROWING MORE INTIMATE WITH AFFAIRS OUTSIDE OF THEIR SHELTERED PROVIDENCE, BUT THIS MAY YET PROVE USEFUL TO OUR CAUSE. SO FAR WE HAVE HAD NO SUCCESS IN PENETRATING THEIR SECURITY NET, BUT WITH INCREASING CONTACT WITH THE WORLD OUTSIDE A CHANCE MIGHT OCCUR THAT WE CAN EXPLOIT TO OUR ADVANTAGE."

"Then shall I continue to observe the sister to this host-form to see if those ties might somehow be deepened?" the agent inquired.

"DO NOTHING THAT WOULD AROUSE SUSPICION, AND CONTINUE TO BEHAVE EXACTLY AS IF YOU WERE A MEMBER OF THE SAOTOME HOUSEHOLD. IT WOULD BE USEFUL TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS UNIQUE FIGHTING STYLE THAT WAS SAID TO BE TAUGHT TO THE ICZERS. KEMPO IS ONLY A PART OF THIS COMBAT MATRIX...I MUST CONTINUE TO PROBE THE MEMORIES OF OUR GUESTS TO DETERMINE IF IT IS AS EFFECTIVE AS WE HAVE BEEN LED TO SUSPECT. CONTINUE TO OBSERVE AND REPORT BACK TO ME WHEN YOU HAVE SOMETHING ELSE INTERESTING TO RELATE."

"As you wish it, Gold-sama," the fake Tenma replied, and then vanished as he translated himself back through the Subspace channel to the target world slated for invasion.

Neos Gold spoke up, addressing herself to the golden figure sitting within the Command Cradle, "Mother...why do we hesitate and putter around with these games of infiltration? We should be mustering our forces to mount an all-out attack to over whelm our enemies. I know that our combined forces will easily sweep away even the united might of the Iczers..."

"YOU KNOW NOTHING BUT WHAT I TELL YOU," the golden figure replied, "A SINGLE ICZER CONTAINS MORE POWER THAN EVEN YOU COULD IMAGINE, AND WITH FOUR OF THEM TO TROUBLE US THE POSSIBILITIES FOR DISASTER YET LURK UNSEEN IN THE WINGS. WE MUST KNOW MORE IN ORDER TO PLAN FOR THEIR DOWNFALL, AND SO WE WILL CONTINUE TO ENGAGE IN PROBING GAMES TO TEST THEIR DEFENSES...AND IF, IN THE PROCESS, WE SHOULD HAPPEN TO PICK OFF A FEW STRAY MEMBERS OF THEIR DEFENSE LINE..."

"I see," Neos nodded slowly, "Then you wish to toy with them for a bit, Mother, before you reel them in and destroy them."

"YOU ARE A GOOD DAUGHTER, AND A VICIOUS STUDENT, BUT YOU HAVE A LONG WAYS TO COME BEFORE YOU COULD EVER SIT IN MY PLACE. I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THE CHANCE TO FACE ICZER ONE AGAIN AND TO CRUSH THE SPIRIT FROM HER BODY BEFORE I UTTERLY TAKE HER LIFE. I WILL PROVE ONCE AND FOR ALL THAT I AM THE TRUE INCARNATION, AND ONLY THEN WILL I RAVAGE HER WORLD AND ADD IT TO MY ALREADY GROWING DOMINION."

"You are wiser than I even suspected, Mother," Neos bowed, "But what shall we do next to give these Iczers cause to fear us?"

"I WOULD BE MOST CONTENT TO LET THEM IMAGINE THEMSELVES SAFE AND SECURE AGAINST ATTACK, BUT THE DIE HAS ALREADY BEEN CAST AND IT IS TOO LATE TO PRETEND THAT WE ARE NOT SERIOUS IN SEEKING TO CORRUPT THEM. SINCE YOUR MINIONS PROVED INADEQUATE TO THE TASK, I WILL CREATE NEW CHAMPIONS FOR OUR CAUSE...BEGINNING WITH A FEW OLD FACES THAT I AM CERTAIN YOU WILL REMEMBER."

"You mean me?" asked a figure who stepped out from the shadows.

Neos reacted with a start and cried, "YOU? THE TRAITOR...?"

"Happy to see you again, Mother," the armored figure smiled, "It has been a long time."

"Mother!" Neos whirled to her creator, "You can't be serious! I created this one only to see her betray me! She was nothing but trouble before I was forced to eliminate her..."

"DO NOT TROUBLE YOURSELF ABOUT THE PAST," Gold countered, "I HAVE CORRECTED THE FLAWS IN HER THAT YOU LEFT IN YOUR ORIGINAL DESIGNS. SHE IS NOW MUCH STRONGER THAN BEFORE AND TOTALLY LOYAL TO OUR CAUSE. THERE IS NO CHANCE OF HER TURNING AGAINST US AS BEFORE, AND SHE HAS THE POWER WE WILL NEED TO BATTLE WITH THE ICZERS WHILE NOVA IS BEING REPAIRED FOR THE INJURIES SUSTAINED BY HER ROBOT."

Neos did not relax her guard though her clear white eyes burned more hotly. The dark haired figure in red, white and gold armor merely smiled back and said, "I'm sure Iczer Three will be happy to see me once again. Shall I convey your respects to her before or after I kill her, Mother?"

Neos frowned but replied, "Do as you will...but don't call me Mother."

"Very well," the dark haired warrior replied, turning to regard the presence on the throne, "Shall I be on my way with your permission, Grandmother?"

"YOU HAVE MY LEAVE TO DEPART...AND SEE TO IT THAT YOUR SISTER ICZER IS THE FIRST TO FEEL YOUR LANCE. I AM CERTAIN THAT ICZER FOUR WILL BE MORE SURPRISED TO LEARN THAT SHE HAS YET ANOTHER AUNT."

"Then I shall write a love letter to her using her entrails," Atros smiled viciously, and translated through subspace.

"YOU MUST DEPART AS WELL, DAUGHTER," Big Gold turned once again to Neos, "YOU HAVE UNFINISHED BUSINESS, I BELIEVE, THAT NEEDS TENDING. ONE OF OUR FOUR MINIONS ESCAPED AND IS AT LARGE, AND THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THAT SHE COULD PROVE TROUBLESOME TO OUR CAUSE."

"I...apologize for the oversight, Mother," Neos bowed, "I will attend to my oversight at once. I know exactly where I can find her."

"THEN GO," Big Gold turned away, glancing over to several pod-shaped objects suspended from a number of cables in which three figures were currently undergoing a lengthy mind-probe to review the data in their memories, to which Gold mused, "I WILL PLAY SOME MORE WITH OUR GUESTS...I FIND THEIR MINDS QUITE...ILLUMINATING, AND IT SEEMS THAT I STILL HAVE MUCH YET TO LEARN ABOUT THESE HUMANS. IS THAT NOT RIGHT, KUNO-SAN?"

Her guests did not reply, of course, but somewhere within their aqueous hibernation pods the trio so addressed gave a very faint collective shudder, as if fearing what their counterparts would do on their home timeline...

The agent calling himself Tenma reappeared where he had been before, inside the Saotome place and upstairs, not too far from the common bathing area and the adjoining bedrooms. At once he scanned the periphery to determine that the Iczer was still present, and so was the older sister to the one whom the agent had displaced. He tuned his mind to a refined "stealth" frequency, not daring to use a more overt probe that might tip off the Iczer as to his true nature, and "listened in" to some curious sounds that came from the bed that they were jointly sharing...a futon, the agent belatedly self-corrected...upon which a young girl was "getting it on" in a rather spectacularly graphic way that caused even the agent to raise an eyebrow...

Sakura was both amazed and overwhelmed at having her lower body be held up in the powerful (yet sensitive) arms of her newfound sex partner, groaning and writhing as she bit on one finger to stifle a scream that resulted from having a warm tongue probe her most intimate places. She tensed and groaned in profuse delight as she came yet another time, her loins becoming slick and juicy as Troi hungrily lapped her down, doing things to Sakura's nerve endings that were utterly beyond all description.

At length Troi let her down again, then smoothly slid her hands up Sakura's sweat-slicked body to plant a kiss on her lips that Sakura returned with eager enthusiasm, delighting in the taste of her own juices on the tongue of her new bedmate. Troi's hands were all over her, finding all sorts of wonderful places to caress, pinch, probe and explore, even as Sakura wrapped her legs around the waist of the Iczer and held on for dear life as she groaned into the other woman's mouth, then began to exchange tongues in a wrestling match worthy of two champion sumos.

When at last their mouths parted, Troi nuzzled her ear and said, "Still thinking about crying rape?"

"I'll...think about it some more," Sakura replied, allowing her hands to caress and fondle the warm flesh of her bedmate, murmuring softly, "I still can't believe that you're an Android..."

"Bioroid," Troi corrected, "I'm one hundred percent organic, just like you, and I even have a biological human mother...well, a C'thuwulf one anyway..."

"You do?" Sakura was frankly amazed by this.

"Her name's Grey...the chief scientist of my people," Troi revealed, "About twenty years ago, roughly after the first C'thuwulf invasion, when my big sister redeemed out people...there was a lot of soul searching about what had gone wrong and why we had been taken over so easy. It was determined that we C'thuwulf had lost something vital that humanity still retained...a stronger survival reflex, and a knowledge of the human condition. That's why Grey decided to use some of her DNA and subject it to the Iczerio in order to create me, following the same genetic matrix as my sister..."

"Iczerio?" Sakura repeated, "What's that?"

"It's...kind of hard to explain," Troi hesitated, "It's an energy matrix that's alive and self-sustaining...to the naked eye it looks like nothing so much as a big glowing white ball of energy, but in reality it's kind of like...a God, or something. It's my true mother on the Iczer half of my makeup, and I'm one of several incarnations created in its likeness...or rather, in the hybrid likeness of Sister Grey and the Iczerio."

"It sounds more like magic than any science I know," Sakura marveled.

"In a way it is kind of like magic," Troi conceded, "The thing is...the parts of me that are human...my internal construction-which is only slightly different than yours-comes from Sister Grey, my Mother...but the rest of me is pure Iczerio, the part that can only be contained by a living bioform, which is why our ancestors first created the Iczers. The Iczerio is the common parent that I share with my big sisters, while Rhea shares a part of the Iczerio that's in her mother...see what I'm saying?"

"No...not exactly," Sakura admitted, "But I guess...all of this is still pretty new to me...I mean, not just you, but...this," she snuggled her body closer to Troi's and said, "I don't know why I'm not even slightly angry with you...you just came right into my life and took what you wanted without asking, and yet...I don't know why...but I'm actually grateful."

"Hey, I told you before," Troi replied, "I'm a natural at this..."

"I'm not taking about how good you are," Sakura grinned, "Even if you are pretty outstanding. I mean...all my life I've been saving myself for...just the right person...I thought it might be Ken, but...well..."

"But you really wanted to do this with Muku," Sakura finished for her, combing her fingers through the brown haired girl's soft hair and adding, "I wasn't trying to take anything from her...or from you...but when I popped in here and found you...well...I've always been a bit of an opportunist."

"A bad girl," Sakura chuckled, "You take what you want and you make me enjoy it..."

"So sue me," Troi replied, "It's a real pleasure screwing with you...you're one hot little number, a real pistol, and I could do this with you all day and never get tired."

"I'll just bet you could," Sakura mused, "So...is this just a one-time deal...am I nothing more than your latest conquest, or is this 'wham, bam, thank you ma'am?'"

Troi heaved a sigh, "I wish I could tell you different...I don't think you're a one-time deal for me...in fact, I'd like to still be your friend if that's all right with you...and...well...if you need a friend to fuck with, you can always use me."

"But not Muku?" Sakura asked softly.

"She's taken, Kid, nothing you or I can do about that," Troi replied, "Oh...you might get lucky and borrow her for a while, but I don't think that's what you're really after. You've been pining away for her for so long that it's been driving you crazy, hasn't it? You couldn't admit to yourself that you had these kinds of feelings, but now that you've lost out to a relative stranger..."

"You have a very brutal way of putting things, Troi-san," Sakura sighed.

"Sorry about that," Troi apologized, "I'm brutal, but I'm honest."

Sakura laid her head back on her pillow and stared up at the ceiling, then remarked, "I know you're right...I can tell just by looking at them how Muku's starting to feel about Rhea...but...I can't just give her up like that...she's...been a part of my life for too many years..."

"Wouldn't expect you to give up without a fight," Troi replied, "Otherwise you wouldn't be a Saotome."

"In other words the kind of person who bangs their head against a rock just because it feels nice," Sakura grimaced, "I really should be grateful to you for helping me to see this...it does feel good to get some of that weight off my shoulders...having to pretend all the time, never letting myself think certain things...it's...liberating..."

"But not as satisfying as having your honey where you can screw her," Troi said with complete candor, "I know I'm no substitute for her...believe me, I know full well that sex is always best with someone you genuinely care about, just like I know that you're not the one I'm fated to be with for the rest of my life. You're...a close match to what I need...but...not quite right. I know that as an Iczer that there's only one genotype whose really suited to be my life-partner, and as much as I wish it could be you..."

"I understand," Sakura replied, running her own fingers through the silky white hair of her companion, "So...this is just a screwing of convenience for the both of us, right?"

"Hey, you're no casual screw, not to me," Troi assured, "I could get very used to having you in my arms as a regular thing, Kid, even if I would be rocking the cradle for your fianc e. Truth is...when I first saw you I just knew we'd click like this, even if you're not a perfect match for what I need, and I'm not the girl you want to spend most of your time with."

"So why did you do this?" Sakura asked.

"Because you looked and felt like you needed a good screwing," Troi chuckled as she nuzzled Sakura's earlobe once again, "You're what we call among the C'thuwulf a girl who's in need of a good fucking."

Sakura actually laughed at this, finding the sensation of merriment further lightened the load she carried inside her, even if her amusement was tinged with a bittersweet sense of irony and longing.

"Seriously," Troi continued, "You had a lot of repressed anxiety and tension that was weighing you down...and now you're more in tune with your feminine side, it can only help you to make more clear-headed decisions in the future."

"Maybe so," Sakura replied, "But I think it's more like you uncorked the bottle and let the Genie out, and now I have to do some serious thinking about what I want to do with my life now that I...know I can go both ways..."

"Look on the bright side," Troi mused, "At least you won't have as much trouble getting a date on Saturday evenings..."

This time Sakura's laughter was heartfelt and carefree, but as good as it felt to be laughing for what felt like the first time in ages, she did not fail to hear the sounds of the door downstairs being opened as a familiar voice called out, "TADAIMA, is anybody at home upstairs?"

"Oh shit!" Sakura froze, "My folks...they're home!"

"Guess that's my cue to take a powder," Troi said as she reluctantly moved away from her bed mate and fetched her belongings, which had been casually draped over a nearby chair, not even pausing to put them on before she gave a jaunty wink at Sakura and said, "Seeya soon, Hot Stuff!"

With that she teleported out of there, leaving Sakura to hastily glance around for something to put on as she heard footsteps lightly trek up the stairs and familiar voices conversing at a low level. She had almost managed to fetch a negligee from her dresser when there was a knocking on her door and her father's voice calling out, "Sakura-chan? Are you there?"  
"AWP!" Sakura whirled around as her door slid back to admit her father, who halted in mid-step as he saw her standing there half-naked.

"WHOOPS!" he said as he reflexively backed away.

"DAD!" Sakura cried, "Could you wait a minute after knocking?"

"Sorry," he slid the door shut, then a moment later it opened again just as Sakura fumbled with her negligee, turning this time to see her mother.

"Sleeping early tonight, Sugar?" the older chef inquired, "I thought you'd either be out with your friends or working on your homework.

"Ah...I was feeling a little tired...big day and all that," Sakura hastily replied while tying her negligee sash, "You and Dad woke me up when you came in..."

"You'll have to forgive your father," Ukyo apologized, "He tends to behave like he was raised by wild pandas, but he means well. Did you find Muku and her friend Rhea?"

"Um...no," Sakura replied as she heard the sounds of running water from the bathroom, "I did look up her familiar haunts though...did you find her?"

"Nope," Ukyo replied, "We waited at the Sports center for a couple of hours talking with her parents, but Muku-chan never showed up. By the way, the Kunos were a little upset about the trousing that somebody gave to their son and daughter."

"Wasn't me," Sakura said with faint disdain, "It was that Rhea character who did it. I told you that before, remember?"

"Never said it was you," Ukyo remarked, just as a redheaded figure stepped past her in the doorframe, and her transformed "father" smiled apologetically in her direction.

"Sorry about that, Kid," her now-feminine father remarked, "Didn't think you'd be sacking out this early. Shoulda waited for you to reply, but I always did have a knack for walking into things without looking..."

"We know," Ukyo said with affection, "And I'm sure Sakura-chan forgives having a Baka like you for her parent."

"Baka is it?" the redhead turned an affectionate leer her way, "Just for that I oughta spank you with that overgrown skillet you carry around all the time..."

"Try it and I'll bend you over my knee, Mister," Ukyo leered back, and the two of them shared a look that promised much mischief to come, only to belatedly remember where they were as they both gave a hesitant look in Sakura's direction.

That was the moment when Sakura suddenly put something together that she had been missing all of these years...and with such blinding clarity that she was amazed that it had never occurred to her before, but thinking of it now, it was small wonder that her parents always flirted with each other in either gender. They never waited until her Dad switched back to being a man before going at it...they always acted like a couple of stalking cats in heat, and the only question was which one would get the drop on the other first, though the outcome itself was never in question.

It is a known fact that children often have trouble conceiving of their parents as sexually active beings, but Sakura had always more-or-less taken it for granted that she and her brother had arrived in the world by means that did not so much involve the stork or a cabbage patch as...other means both consensual and biological. Was it possible...could it be that they had sex with one another EVEN WHILE HER FATHER WAS IN HIS CURSED FORM? If so, then it would certainly explain a lot of things that she never had been too mindful about in the past...and it definitely confirmed that she was more like her mother than she had ever dared to imagine!

Of course as Sakura thought this she belatedly took notice of something lying on the floor next to her bare foot, and as she chanced to glance at the object she encountered she had a momentary start of dismay, for it was one of the boots that Troi had been wearing, which must have been accidentally left behind. The thought occurred to her that she might have to kick the thing away, or else claim it was hers before her folks could think to ask her, but while they were momentarily distracted a hand and arm appeared from seeming nowhere and snagged the boot up before vanishing again as suddenly as it had appeared...Troi's arm, she belatedly realized, sneaking one on the side before anyone but Sakura could be at all the wiser.

Even as she was marveling at this (with an enormous sense of relief at not being found out), her supposed "brother" was out in the corridor making his own calculations and wondering if, possibly, his Master was vastly underestimating the degree of sympathy that was currently being shared between this human and an Iczer. As astonishing as it would be to think that the biological sister to his host-form was establishing close ties with the one unattached Iczer on the planet, it added further fuel to speculation, though exactly how this information might be put to good effect he could not imagine.

The agent considered teleporting back to relay his doubts to his Master when he heard his host's mother say, "Tenma-chan...are you still up and about?" and without thinking about it he responded, "Yeah, Mom!"

"Well hey," his other (supposedly) biological parent responded, "Think you might go downstairs and lock the place up for us? Your Mom and me are thinking about turning in early ourselves...you know how us old peoples tend to tire out."

The agent rolled his eyes, thinking to himself that his parents were a couple of Sex freaks, but even as he thought this he paused to wonder what that term was intended to mean, and where the impulse had come from? Could it be that the copying process was a little too precise and he had wound up duplicating in his bioform a bit too much of his host's replicated body?

Being a Doppelganger, rather than a Void or a Venomoid, (which could have been detected by a random scan of one of the Iczers) he had formed a mental link with the one he had chosen to duplicate during the confusion of the battle between the Iczers. It had been a moment when the boy had been climbing out of the rubble that the Agent had sprung upon him, making eye contact and initiating the process of cellular replication, but before the process could be completed with the elimination of the host target they had been forcibly separated, leaving the host's actual form very much alive and abandoned amid the wreckage. Now that he thought about it, he wondered if the host were still out there somewhere and waiting to be discovered. He dismissed the thought at once, reckoning that one of the other Venomoids would likely have picked the boy out by now and have finished the process, because the alternative was a bit too absurd, though disturbingly possible...that one day the original host might return to trouble him, at which point the Agent would be forced to finish the job he had initially started.

After all, if there were two Tenmas still running about, who knew what could happen? That thought being unknowable and beyond his powers of computation, the agent went about doing a task that was a little too routine and well practiced, which was namely going down stairs and locking up the restaurant so that his parents could screw away the night like...well...parents...blissfully unaware that anyone else in the house was at all the wiser...

It made no sense, no matter how hard she tried to think it through. Why had she and her fellows been beaten by the Iczers, and with such ridiculous ease as to make one wonder what they had been doing out there battling them in the first place?

Fiber knew that her time was limited, that she had only a short interval as a fugitive before her creator hunted her down and punished her for her failure...but was the failure truly her own? Or was the fault truly with any of her brethren, knowing now that they had been mere catspawns sent out on a useless mission to probe the strength of the Iczers, and as such had been sacrificed for no other higher purpose. Was that all that they were good for in the eyes of their superiors? Mere footsolders fated to die at the whim of their Masters? Was that the extent of their usefulness to the cause of Neos and Big Gold, or any of their allies?

That could not be the end of it, and yet all the facts were there. Fiber stood surveying the field of the battle replaying events in her mind and the conclusion was unmistakable...their own creator had betrayed them and now...her life lacked any proper meaning.

"So...you accept your fate...you didn't attempt to hide your presence?"

Fiber did not betray any surprise as she turned to regard Neos, "Would it make any difference if I tried? You would still find me."

"True," Neos said, "I created you, I know all that there is to know about you. I could find you if you hid yourself on the farthest end of the universe, and the end would still be the same."

"Of course," Fiber turned around, "Before I die, one question I wish to have answered...why did you bring us back if you only meant to use us as pawns. Is that all we ever meant to you?"

"You ask," Neos sniffed, "I am under no obligation to answer...you are my creation...I made you and I can break you if I wish."

"Granted," Fiber replied, "But if I am nothing less than dust to you...why was I ever given life? What am I...what were my sisters? Surely it cannot trouble you to answer."

"You wish to know?" Neos moved before Fiber could even blink and smashed her to the ground, hovering over the shaken Bioroid as she said, "You were useful to me once...I needed tools to work my will, but then Iczer One came and toppled my empire...she destroyed my other servants...only you and your sisters were left! I had to make use of the poor quality tools that were left to me, to buy myself some time to regain my strength. If you had proven your worth to me I would have elevated you to the elite of all who served me, but now you are a broken toy, of no use to anyone, and so there will be none to grieve when I dispose of you. Your continued existence is repellant to my sight!"

The fist of the draconic Bioroid began to glow with mounting power, and Fiber cowered, not even giving a pretence of bravery now that oblivion was staring her in the face. With only seconds to spare before the dark closed on her forever she hardly expected to hear anyone dramatically call out, "Just a minute there! I've got something to say about this!"

Neos was even more surprised than Fiber as she turned her mask-like face and said the words that could have been scripted for her by a B-movie script writer, "Who dares...?"

"I do!" a figure replied, coming out from concealment and perching melodramatically atop a pile of rubble.

Fiber had to blink to be sure her ocular sensors were functioning correctly, because the small boy who stood before them was garbed in the most outlandish wardrobe that she had ever seen in all of her travels. Not being a connoisseur of Terran based Media, she naturally could not have described him as having a "Rambo-like wardrobe" with the many weapons he carried on his body, the sum accumulated weight of which unquestionably amounted to more than his own body mass. If anything, it was amazing that the youth did not topple over!

"What?" Neos reacted, "What are you doing here? Why are you not at your assigned place, fool?"

"I've got no idea what you're talking about, lady," the boy smiled, "But it should be obvious to anyone that you're the bad guy here. Standard scenario for the Big Baddie to be punishing his failed henchman by killing them off rather than give them another chance. That makes you the one I get to beat up, so get ready, because Saotome Tenma won't stand for seeing you pick on that lady!"

"Saotome..." Neos blinked, "The REAL one? How can this be? You were supposed to be eliminated!"

"What?" Tenma blinked, then growled, "You mean you used the old substitution rule to put a fake me in my place? Man, you really are standard bad guy, lady! That means I don't have to hold back, you get the full treatment!"

"This is ludicrous," Neos sneered, gesturing with a hand and blasting away at where the youth had been standing, "Now that he's been dealt..."

That was all she got to say before a spatula slammed her in the back of her head. It did not do more than startled Neos, who whirled her massive serpentine body around and snarled, "NOW WHO DARES...?"

"Up here, lady!" Tenma called, standing perched atop the tail of the draconic half of Neos, then before she could bring her tail into play he slammed his spatula down and jammed the edge between two plates, causing it to lock up and immobilize, effectively neutralizing its effectiveness as a weapon.

"WHY YOU-!" Neos started to gesture when Tenma unslung a rifle that he had been wearing across his back and immediately discharged the blast full-force in her face, effectively blinding her more than any superficial damage that he rendered. She started to shake off the effects of the blast when the boy vaulted into the air again, executing a perfect somersault while tossing a pair of objects at the feet of an astonished Neos.

Fiber stared in disbelief as the child landed a short distance from where she lay even as Neos started to reorient upon them, only to have the objects beneath her explode, kicking up a tremendous force that once again disoriented the cybernetic dragon. Even as her human half began to shake off the surprise the boy unslung a pair of gauntlets that he produced from seeming no where, gauntlets that began to glow as Tenma cried, "BEAM CANNONS-ION SETTING, FULL FORCE!"

All at once his hands were surrounded by a pair of scoop-like blasters, which looked rather like something that Golem would conjure up from her arsenal. All at once the boy's now-weaponed hands began to glow like miniature twin suns, and then a blast shook the air as he fired point-blank at Neos Gold, striking her full-bodied and knocking the terrifying Bioroid Demon for a loop. Fiber stared at the trench kicked up by the blasters as Neos's form came to at a halt a hundred meters distance!

(He's using the Subspace Ethernet to create these things!) Fiber thought to herself in utter amazement, (Somehow...this child knows how to draw upon Subspace to create objects of his imagination! But...he is only a mere human!)

"YOOOUUUU-!" Neos sputtered in rage, "YOU DARE DO THAT TO ME?"

"Uh oh," Tenma remarked as he banished away the gauntlets, "Looks like you're a tough one. I'm gonna have to try something else if I'm gonna beat you."

Neos did not bother to utter a reply as she shot her energy beam forward, a cone of destructive energy that would certainly have incinerated the youth on the spot but for a very strange thing that happened next, one wholly unexpected. Even Fiber did not anticipate her own actions until she was already in motion, weaving her fibers into a cocoon and surrounding both herself and the youth in their protective envelope, even as she used her ability to shift from Subspace to Normal space to draw them both out of the field of devastation one instant before the ground upon which they both had stood was blasted to freeflowing ions in a microsecond.

"Hmph, take that to your graves!" Neos declared, staring in satisfaction at the now-incinerated landscape before her, which stretched out for a solid mile in which there was nothing but glass to mark their passing, "Annoying insect...join your harlot in oblivion, for all I care. The youth of this misbegotten planet are so annoying..."

And with that she vanished back to where she came, even as Fiber re-emerged from subspace mere seconds later, unwound her cocoon and promptly fell over, having totally exhausted her reserve power.

"W-What?" Tenma glanced around, "Where's the bad guy? Where did she go? Hey...lady...are you all right?"

Fiber did not reply, of course, having long since slumped into regenerative stasis, all the while wondering to herself, (What have I done...why did I do that...?)

The darkness, of course, did not reply, but it was willing to embrace her with the warming heart of a loving mother, and with that Fiber found consolation...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Serial Plot Twists: shadowmane

Muku and Yumi take Rhea shopping while someone new is stalking them, while Fiber tries to make sense of her rescuer while other forces take stock of the pending worldwide crisis in, "For Your Thighs Only," or "All I Know I Learned from Watching Anime!" Be there!

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If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	15. Chapter 15

Earthchild15

The Earthchild

(An Iczer/Ranma Crossover)

by Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi &amp; Others)

Chapter Fifteen.

HENTAI ALERT! YOU ARE ENTERING THE LEMON ZONE, WHERE CONSENSUAL ACTS BETWEEN HUMAN AND BIOROIDS CAN OCCUR AT ANY MOMENT, YOU HAVE BEEN DULY WARNED!

Iczers Two and One leaned closer and shared a kiss that was soft, warm and passionate, a tentative kiss that gave way to more concerted passion as they merged their mouths and flicked their tongues against one another. It was a wonderful kiss, a kiss of more than sisters, and it led to a desire for much greater intimacy as they moved their hands in concert and began exploring one another's bodies.

It felt good to feel a sister's hand caressing her bosom as each Iczer responded in kind with identical sensations...almost like making love to a reflection, and yet with subtle differences that leant an air of mystery and suspense to the almost palpable anticipation. Iczers One and Two continued their impassioned kissing as fingers molded supple flesh and found the nerve endings that were interwoven into their (technically) synthetic bodies. Each one knew instinctively enough of the others anatomy from her own analogue to know intuitively what was good and what could bring out the best their bodies had to offer. It felt good to receive as well as give affectionate caresses as they fondled each others breasts and moved their other arms around each other's waist to secure their position face-to-face standing before their bed, gradually making out in front of their ladies, much to their collective enjoyment.

Sayoko and Nagisa lay cuddled together on the bed, watching and enjoying the show that their partners were putting on for their benefit, even as their own hands freely explored one another's naked flesh. The two human lifemates to their Iczers were greatly moved to see their respective Iczers consummating a deep love that transcended mere sisterhood, even as they lusted to indulge in their own mutual pleasuring, having long harbored a deep admiration for each others bodies.

They looked so good together, their partners...Iczer One and Two fitting together as though they were cast from the same mold, reflections in an amber cast of red and gold in which both Bioroids were full and complete equals. Iczer One had a quiet intensity to her that made her magnetic and appealing, while the more fiery Two rose to the challenge of giving and receiving the love that was given to her so freely, returning it more than redoubled, and all the more eager to discover how far they could carry their lovemaking, having a full range of C'thuwulf pleasure techniques hardwired into their latent subconscious.

There was such a softness to their initial caresses, but soon their kisses became more intense as the aggressive Two sought and gained the advantage, moving her lips to nuzzle the throat and cheek of her elder sibling, awakening to a delight in possessing her that made her plant tender kisses down to the hollow of One's shoulder, moving lower as the blonde arched her back and threw her head backwards with a sigh that was heartfelt and entirely yielding. Two wasted no time going to work on the right bosom of her blonde amorata, encircling One's nipple and sucking it in as she cupped a hand around One's right ass-cheek and gave it a tentative squeeze that further aroused and excited her sister. Before too long Two switched breasts and went to work on the left side, causing Iczer One to hug her sister closer and urge her to go even further, which Two did, bringing her other hand down low to gently stroke and caress the bare loins of her sister, who arched her hips to feel a hand gently moving up against her mound, which had the same effect on her that it would have on a human woman.

All at once Two's innate aggressiveness took control over her instincts, and she forced One to ease down onto the rub so that she could straddle and assume a dominant position on top of her sister. Two moved her body about so that she was positioned perfectly in a classic "69" posture, her mouth clamping down on One's loins and savaging her there with a gently ravishing tongue that demanded satisfaction and would accept nothing less than complete supplication. Even as she did this she brought her pelvis down to all but "smother" One's face, which same her sister took as an open invitation so that she began to return the favor, her tongue no less eager to taste the loins of a sister.

And as they watched this take place, Sayoko moved her hand down to play with Nagisa's velvety bush, sliding a finger up her moistened slit as the latter moaned in tacit approval of the gesture. Nagisa responded by taking one of Sayoko's nipples between her thumb and forefinger and giving it an affectionate squeeze that earned a soft gasp of arousal out of her fellow Japanese woman. From there it was a matter of mouths meeting and them getting seriously down to the business of screwing one another silly, each becoming only peripherally aware that their true lady loves were having a frenzied lick-fest that was, gradually, yielding the results of a full blown eruption.

A part of Two's mind analytically reflected upon the irony of her present situation. She had been created to destroy Iczer One, but was making love to her instead...though in an ironic way she was offering "le petite morte," as some humans would call it...the "little death" of a wonderful orgasm. Technically she was fulfilling her original function, but function be damned, her sister was so darned TASTY!

Iczer One had no qualms about surrendering herself to the domineering envelopment of her beautiful sister, a joy and delight in the fact of their both being alive to indulge in such a marvelous feast surpassing any qualms that she might ever have had in placing herself completely at Two's tender mercies. Mercy was indeed what she felt like crying out as she felt her body clench in the throes of an eruption of Vesuvian proportions, and her body began to ejaculate the synthetic "cream" that tasted very much like human cum juice. Her hips ground her buttocks against the carpet as shuddered with the aftermath of her explosion, a shimmering delight made all the more intense by Two's tongue continuing to probe her to the sound of enthusiastic slurping, all of which only redoubled her determination to yield the same thing from Two's loins, and so she thrust her tongue in all the way and twirled it about, delighting in the taste of her sister's moistened, velvety sex, grateful beyond all words that their original designer had been so exact in specifying that their bodies be exactly like a woman's.

Two's moment of triumph and exultation over claiming her "victory" over One was short lived as her own body began to spasm and moan in thrall to the ravishing tongue swirling around inside her. In a moment she went over the edge and surrendered her own load of pelvic "juice," delighting One to no end as the blonde Iczer hungrily devoured all Two's loins could produce, causing Two's mind to do a "red shift" as she exploded again into the mouth of her sweet sister.

Sayoko had similarly pinned Nagisa to the bed and had the other woman's legs raised up as in invitation to "go to town" on her shaven pussy. Sayoko ravished the (somewhat) older Nagisa with passionate desire that very much reflected the mood of her ecstatic partner, even as Nagisa welcomed her ravishing with many heartfelt cries, arching her back as she stretched her arms out and yielded to Sayoko every ounce of cum that she could offer in one sitting. The other girl went hungrily down on her and gave Nagisa scant time to recover from one creamy burst before the pleasuring began anew and caused her to lose all sense of individuality, fusing her loins to Sayoko's tongue and yielding herself up to the younger girl's insatiable hunger.

Two sat back, keeping her loins on top of One's face as she gripped One's upraised feet by their ankle and brought one of them up to where she could pay some adoring "foot worship" on the well shaped feet of her tender sibling. One delighted in the feeling of having her toes suckled and a tongue play against her arches and ankles, rewarding Two with the delightful sensation of having some air blown up into her snatch, filling her slightly like a balloon before deflating her vagina again to give One's tongue the chance to explore her clitoris and rim all over. At last Two decided to once again return the favor and bent down to renew her onslaught, determined this time to force One to beg for release as she gave her loins a full and thorough inspection, her tongue finding every nerve ending alert and at full attention as she savaged her sister and thoroughly loved it, realizing that this was exactly the way that she wanted to dominate One in the future, understanding now that a sister was for loving as well as humbling like a pet, the only true purpose for her life beyond Sayoko as she made love into her battlefield and planted her flag of victory in loving licks and caresses.

One had no qualms about being conquered in this way but secretly planned on turning the tables later on when Two dropped her guard by a fraction, at which point she intended to show her flame haired sibling just who was the "Big Sister" in this arrangement...and besides which, Two's legs looked so tasty that they absolutely begged to be explored in the same way as Two had earlier demonstrated.

And while all of this was going on Nagisa was taking the upper hand with Sayoko, who until now had been the aggressor in their lovemaking, but now was subjected to the full weight of experience that Nagisa had refined with her partner over ten intensive years of deeply satisfying "marriage." The younger girl was surprised-yet ultimately delighted-to receive the benefits of such studious and intensive training at the hands of her fellow "Iczer-Lover." On the whole ten years of friendship had culminated in a deep respect that had grown to curiosity in both of them, and now was displayed in an earnest way that left no doubt that this was genuine and much yearned for...

However-unnoticed by these four sexual dynamos, their bracelets were pulsing slightly, though they had been removed (along with everything else) at the onset of this partner-swapping orgy, Since Iczers One and Two had "turned off" their internal monitor relays (as per the wishes of their human partners) they did not respond to the signal-summons being relayed from Gamora Earth Base, which frustrated Force Leader Cobalt to no end as she wondered what in the name of the Goddess could be keeping them so busy.

"Might as well face it," Deputy Commander Sepia mused as she sat in the command chair eyeing her lady love with affection, "Nagisa and Sayoko meant it when they said that we shouldn't try and contact them, and you know whatever they say goes double for their Iczers."

"Of all the bloody time to be running off on a love-tryst," Cobalt fumed slightly, "And with yet another pulsating wave indicating that someone else has been using the Subspace conduit, someone who has an energy signature worthy of another Iczer..."

"I agree that the timing is bad," Sepia noted, "But we have the Iczelion Corps to rely upon, and Troi is at large somewhere, no doubt getting into the thick of it, as she usually does..."

"I don't mind the Iczelions," Cobalt responded, "But relying upon Troi is not an option I much favor."

"My daughter can be a trial at times, I admit," Sister Grey remarked as she came into the command chamber, "But she always comes through when we need her in a pinch."

"Don't mention pinch and Troi in the same breath," Sepia mused, "Cobalt hasn't forgiven her for the last time she tried something kinky."

Cobalt glanced away with a sour expression, "And to think...I used to wonder what the Terran word 'Tramp' means...so, what have you to report, Sister Grey? Any progress with our new houseguests?"

"Well," Grey sighed, "After we finished purging the last traces of Venomoid influence we assessed the extent of their damages and determined that they could be revived...with some extensive remodifications. They won't be the same as they were before, but their core memories are intact with plenty of storage capacity for anything new we might like to add to override Gold's influence. They're undergoing gene remodification right now, but they won't be fully revived until we subject them to the Iczerio. That will take a few days yet, time enough for us to assess their potential for good or mischief. Now, what's that again about us facing a new crisis?"

"Excuse me," one of the monitors reported, "But I thought someone would like to know that the unknown Iczer energy source is moving into the Nerima area and may signify a renewal of hostilities on the part of the enemy."

"Another attack?" Cobalt asked, "Could it be Nova again?"

"No," the monitor said, her controlling headdress feeding her new information with the speed of instant thought transmission, "The signature is entirely different...but until she comes in contact with one of our agents and we can do a full body scan of her through their relays we cannot confirm her identity."

"Oh great," Cobalt said, "You mean we won't know what we're up against until she attacks?"

"Assuming that it is a she," Grey pointed out, "We do have a bit too much of a gender prejudice in our speech patterns, I've noticed, yet on this world that does not always hold certain..."

"If it's an Iczer-level threat, we can be assured that it is most definitely female," Sepia declared, "Alert the Iczelions in that area...we need to go on full alert status, and...someone try to get ahold of one of our Iczers?"

"We shall endeavor to try, Master Sepia," a second monitor replied, the lights on her headdress flickering as she attempted to relay her orders...

"Well, what do you think?"

Muku and Yui just stared as Yumi waved a hand to indicate Rhea, who had just stepped out of the dressing room and was wearing nothing more than a thin neglig e, the kind that was virtually see-through and left only a little technical area to the imagination.

"Ah...?" Muku remarked with a questioning tilt to her eyebrows as Rhea nervously eyed her back, posed unselfconsciously in a way that displayed her very feminine profile to greatest effect. Muku could not help looking the Bioroid up and down, marveling at how...human she appeared dressed like that, sans armor or any type of apparel which might remind one of her essentially alien nature. Only the ears and other strange features testified to Rhea being anything more than an overly shy schoolgirl of about their apparent age (and never mind that she was actually supposed to be around ten years old or so), with bare foot poised at an appropriately aesthetic angle, to which Muku found herself swallowing as she traced the leg itself into...other more forbidding regions.

"This is your idea of her being modest?" Yui asked, also arching an eyebrow.

"No, this is just something I thought she could wear when she and Muku-chan are alone," Yumi replied, "After all, if we're going to have a sleepover, she ought to at least dress for the part. I'll show you what else I've picked out in the way of casual street wear in just a moment. This way, Rhea-chan," she said as she turned and shooed the other girl back into the dressing room, Rhea going along quietly, though with a tentative glance over one bare shoulder in Muku's direction.

Muku just stood where she was, riveted to the spot until Yui got fed up with her imitation of a dressing dummy and poked her in the ribs, to which Muku reacted with a startled exclamation.

"What is it with you and that girl?" Rhea asked, "Are you in love with her or something?"

"Hah?" Muku blinked again, now looking even more like the proverbial dear caught in the headlights.

Yui rolled her eyes and growled, "Sakura would have a fit if she were here, and I don't mean sizing her up for a new outfit. You have to get over this clueless act of yours, Muku-chan, if you want to get anywhere with that girl...assuming you want to since I'm not all that convinced that she's really your type."

"She's not?" Muku asked, then paused before adding, "What is my type? Can you at least tell me that much?"

Yui seemed to have been caught off guard by that question, for she hastily glanced to one side and said, "Not all of us are out to get into your pants, Senzenen...just because you're popular doesn't mean you're totally irresistible to both sexes..."

Muku blinked, "Excuse me?"

"Nothing," Yui sighed, "I don't really know what your type would be...somebody practical and level headed, I think, not prone to fly off into a wild emotional fit at the drop of a hat, and sensible enough to know when to give you your space but strong enough not to let you get out of line when you go too far over something..."

"Oh," Muku replied, not adding that this sounded like a pretty reasonable description of what she had so far observed about Rhea.

"So...can you at least give some indication about what you think of this girl?" Yui asked after a pause that lasted several moments.

"Ah..." Muku glanced down then said, "I guess...she's really very unusual...for a lot of reasons that I...can't really tell you about...but she's a nice kind of weird...know what I'm saying?"

Yui did not answer that question but instead said, "Go on."

"And...well...besides that, there's really not that much to tell," Muku continued, "I only just met her a couple of days ago and for the last day and a half I've been finding out stuff about her. She's really not that bad a person...I mean...what she is...and...well...I do think that I...kind of like her...a little..."

"Taadaa!" Yumi announced as she re-emerged out of the dressing room, waving her hands once more as Rhea stepped out into full view, this time wearing something a bit more "modest" than before, though in terms of casualness in ranked up there with Yui's Shinto Priestess outfit.

Muku did not just stare this time...she gawked! There was no other way of describing the curious sensations that came over her as she witnessed a Rhea transformed from "Naughty Nympho" to a stunning "Cinderella." She was wearing an elegant blue evening gown that snugly fit the contours of the top part of her body, complete with plunging neckline that went down to expose her belly button, leaving a gap that was bounteously filled by a generous amount of cleavage with perky breasts peering out from the partial concealment that was offered, leaving open a space that had been filled with a bit of costume jewelry worth more than Muku's whole monthly allowance. The necklace sparkled on Rhea's bosom, adding a bit of fairy-tale quality to the lustrous effect her reddish-gold hair had when set off against the curiously luminous blue dress.

Said dress itself hung down almost to her ankles but had a side-slit that showed a generous portion of leg, and following that trail down to Rhea's nicely tapering feet she found a pair of bronze-colored sandals with three-inch spiked heels, adding a bit of height to the Bioroid's otherwise demure stature. She did not just look elegant in her new apparel...she looked like a Fairy Princess who had just stepped out of a woodland Elf kingdom.

"Am I a fashion genius or what?" Yumi asked with a grin, "Of course if I had more time to work on her hair and maybe add a touch of makeup here and there I could really achieve a masterpiece, but you get the idea with the quality of merchandise I'm working with here. Don't worry about the price, I'll cover everything with my Mom's Credit chip. I'll explain it to her later, and she's pretty understanding about such things, like most of my Aunties."

"You are too kind," Rhea said simply, "But I can...compensate you for your troubles...my parents have their own credit account, and I am...certain that they would understand and approve of my reasons."

"Where do you expect to take her out?" Yui asked, "The Ashtoria Palace?"

"Hey, you never know when having something nice to wear can come in handy," Yumi winked, then again shooed Rhea back into the dressing room and gave a winsome smile at Muku, adding, "Now, don't you dare peak until you see what I have next to show you."

There was a silence that lasted several moments before Muku gave any sign of motion, and when she did all she said was, "Nani?"

"She must be stopped," Yui murmured, "For the good of humanity..."

"Huh?" Muku blinked her eyes, "What was that?"

"Oh...nothing," Yui again looked elsewhere, "It's just that cousin Yumi seems to take her matchmaker role a little too far. She reminds me a lot of our Aunt Minako."

Muku had to smile at that, remembering a tall blonde who had busied herself everyone else's business while her "significant other" had looked on with a faintly indulgent expression, "Surely not that bad...the next thing you know you'll be comparing her to your Aunt Usagi."

Yui actually shuddered a bit at that and said, "No one could be that meddlesome or nosy...though Yumi-chan does come frighteningly close. It just brings up my question again...how do you feel about this girl, Rhea?"

Muku had to sigh again as she said, "I wish I could tell you answer to that one...believe me. Every time I look at her it's like staring down into a deep well and wondering if there's any bottom. I'm wrapped up in the middle of something I don't even understand because of her, but it really isn't her fault either. She...well...I feel like we've known each other somewhere a long time ago...and...it's like there really is a connection..."

"I could have told you that much for myself," Yui replied, "What I'm asking is whether or not you care about her like she so obviously cares about you?"

"I..." Muku hesitated, thinking about the way she had been feeling around Rhea whenever the girl was in her presence. There was a strong force of attraction surrounding the beautiful elf-girl which held Muku enthralled any time their eyes met and held each other for a significant length of time. It truly was a most perplexing situation.

"You are aware that she is not entirely human," Yui pointed out, "And that she tends to stand out in a crowd, so you can't exactly expect to keep a low profile about this. People are going to talk...count on that with cousin Yumi in the picture! If they don't suspect something between you then they'll make it up, so it would be better for all concerned if you made your mind up about her BEFORE the challenges begin all over."

"You...really think people are going to come after her on account of me?" Muku asked.

"Beyond question," Yui replied, "Though most will give up quietly after they see how formidable she can be in a fight, leaving only determined idiots like Kuno Godai to press his challenge. I would also expect Sakura to be very demanding of a rematch just to prove how good this Rhea is in actual battle."

Muku sighed, "All right, genius, you're the Oracle here. How exactly do I get myself out of this mess quietly...or do I?"

"I can conduct a fire ceremony, if you like," Yui replied, "But somehow I don't think it will tell me all that much that I don't already know just by reading your Karma. As Perm might say if she were here, you have been 'blessed by the gods to live in some very interesting times...'"

"I thought that was cursed," Muku corrected.

"When it comes to the gods, a curse and a blessing are often one and the same thing," Yui shrugged, "It's up to you to decide what to do about it...much as Sakura's father adapted to cope with his own peculiar...blessing."

"I think I see what you're saying," Muku replied, "But...still..."

"Ready, you can look now!"

Again the pair responded to Yumi's entreaty by turning to stare at a transformed Rhea...only this time, instead of evening wear or casual undress, she was wearing something a bit more 'street-wise," albeit a tank top and shorts was a bit more casual than what had been expected.

Muku stared at a Rhea who had become a quasi-feminine tomboy in one fell swoop, wearing light cork sandals and having her long fiery hair done up in a pony tail (very Sakura-like, if one needed an analogy for this), and Muku thought that she could detect the strap and outlines of a bra underneath the sleeveless tank-top, which exposed Rhea's entire midriff to full view, complete with an altogether human looking belly-button.

"Um...well?" Rhea hesitantly asked after a minute, "Do you...like it, Muku-  
chan?"

Muku was not sure that she could have been trusted to give a reliable answer to that question, but fate intervened to remove all need as a new voice (sounding oddly a lot like Troi) remarked, "Not too shabby, though hardly appropriate to get buried in, but thanks for removing the armor."

Before anyone could react a beam of light flashed through the air and struck Rhea in the shoulder, knocking her back into the wall and shattering a dressing store mirror even as Yumi flinched and ducked for cover.

"WHO?" Yui demanded as she instantly fell into a defensive battle-crouch.

A tall figure stepped forward, dressed neck-to-foot in red, white and black armor, her long mane of ebony hair trailing down to well below her waist and fluffed up in a style very reminiscent of Troi's own wild mane of silver tresses. The sneer on her lips, however, was anything but like the jaunty/saucy smirk that was often adorning the face of the third Iczer.

Muku was not so quick to fall into a defensive posture, but she knew an enemy when she saw one and said, "You're an Iczer?"

"Close," the stranger replied, "I'm related to them by blood...but the name is Atros, and I'm here to kill you all, so don't bother trying to fight me. I'll make it quick and painless..."

"In a pig's eye!" Yui snarled, stabbing forward with her umbrella, only to have it be caught at the top by one hand of the new arrival.

"You've got to be joking," Atros snorted, then shoved the umbrella forward as Yui staggered and tumbled backwards. Atros then gestured with a hand and fired off a burst that fried the entire area where the Shinto priestess had tumbled, only Yui was not there, having performed a quick handspring that allowed her to bounce off the ceiling, coming down at her foe with foot outstretched in a descending Dragon's Stamp kick.

Atros blocked that foot with no apparent effort, causing Yui to gasp in dismay before she was grabbed by one ankle and hurled like a club to the farthest end of the store. A cowering attendant on duty screamed as Yui crashed out the picture-store window and kept right on going, though Atros hardly even gave her a backward side-glance.

"Pathetic," Atros sneered, only to turn sharply as Muku summoned up her energy and formed a Chi-ball in both hands, having taken that critical moment to prepare herself for what she hopes would be a much more effective attack.

Muku unleashed her power in a hasty Haddo Ken burst, but again Atros moved before the attack could reach her and caught the energy ball against the palm of her hand, dissipating it as though it were a mere balloon filled with harmless water.

"Now you show some promise," Atros remarked, "Not that you'll get much chance to refine it..."

The sound of an energy sword being summoned caused heads to turn back to Rhea, who was only then starting to rise back to her feet, one arm being favored as orange blood seeped from a hole the size of a pencil.

"You won't touch her," Rhea declared, holding her beam saber one-handed at the ready, "I don't know who you are, but you are an enemy, that much is certain. Take one step towards my partner and I will kill you where you stand."

"An interesting threat," Atros replied, reaching down with both hands, which were suddenly both filled by twin beam sabers, "Can you back it up in your condition? Somehow I rather doubt it."

"Don't underestimate me," Rhea replied, "It would be a mistake."

"The only mistake is having a miserable half breed like you for my opponent," Atros declared, flashing both of her twin sabers, "Prepare to die, you and your partner!"

Muku gasped as she saw the black haired warrior surge forward with Rhea barely able to stand, let alone defend herself. But before Atros could close on the flame-haired girl a ball of energy burst forth in the space between them and repelled the attack of the twin sabers.

A moment later a heavily armored figure filled the space within that globe of energy, and a woman smiled from within a helmet saying, "Did I arrive in the nick of time? How naughty of you, trying to attack my best friend's daughter."

"Aunt Kawai?" Rhea blinked, obviously as surprised as Atros.

"Congratulations little one," the armored woman smiled, "I hear you snagged yourself a partner. Ah, young people...they grow up so fast these days..."

"Who in the hell are you?" Atros demanded, falling back in an aggressive crouch.

"The name is Kawai Kawaii," the armored warrior said, "Silver Iczelion, at your service."

"Iczelion?" Muku remarked, surprised at discovering a new element of the C'thuwulf experience manifesting in such a timely manner.

"Yes, and not alone either," another voice remarked as yet another armored woman appeared, her armor different from that of the first in coloration, "The name is Ijima Kiiro, Gold Iczelion, also at your service."

"Uh...Kiiro?" gasped Yumi as she picked herself up from where she had fallen, half-buried under a number of spilled dresses, "That name..."

"What's in a name...other than a bit of ass-whipping?" growled a third armored figure who appeared from seeming no where to flank the side of Atros opposite to the others, "For the record mine is Shiina Nami...Black Iczelion, here to put an end to your career of evil."

"An end to my...?" Atros stared at the tall blonde in the black styled armor, then at the ones in gold and silver and sneered, "Who the hell do you clowns think you're dealing with here?"

"An enemy," said the Silver Iczelion.

"One who attacks helpless girls in ambush and spoils their dreams of achieving the perfect fashion sense," the Gold Iczelion added.

"A coward who fights by stealth and picks on those too helpless to defend themselves," the Black Iczelion concluded, "We are more than sufficient to deal with the likes of you. Our armor easily makes us individually your equals."

"My equals?" Atros sneered, "You're not even close to being that! Get out of my way now or I'll reduce you three to the scrap heap!"

"Tough words for a stalker," the woman in gold armor retorted.

"We've been stationed close by the neighborhood in case one such as you showed up," the silver armored woman, "Did you think we would be unaware that one such as you would try something like this?"

"Rhea-chan," said the black-armored blonde, "You are in no condition to fight. Take your friends and partner and get them safely away from here while we deal with this riff-raff."

"Hai," Rhea dutifully agreed, reaching out to take Yumi by the arm and then rushing forward to join Muku, then gripping her partner about her waist and shooting forward out of the store with the speed of a rocket.

"HEY!" Atros cried, starting to move to attack the fleeing Iczer, only to be immobilized as the three Iczelions simultaneously activated their force-screens to erect a globe that effective contained her.

"We have you now," the Silver Iczelion observed.

"You won't escape from us," the Gold Iczelion boasted.

"We are taking you in custody," the Black Iczelion informed Atros, "Though you are welcome to offer whatever resistance you feel is appropriate...we could use the excuse to be less than gentle about this."

"Fools!" Atros snarled as she crossed her arms and summoned up her power, "You have no idea what you are dealing with here!"

All at once she released that energy, flooding her globe-like container with so much power that it caused the field to rupture and discharge with spectacular results hazardous to the dress shop and all surrounding property in a one hundred meter radius.

While this was taking place, Muku was hanging on for dear life as Rhea drew her and Yumi along with no one's feet touching the floor at any point in their travels. She was dimly aware of passing a shaken Yui, who was picking herself up from the floor in the corridor when the explosion rang out, but then said floor angled sharply away as the ceiling came rushing up to meet them, the skyline in particular growing too close for Muku's comfort...

But then they were beyond the ceiling, hardly even touching it in passing as a curious tingling sensation passed all through their bodies. All at once Muku looked down to see the Mall itself falling away down below them while a fire erupted from inside, partially caving in a portion of the ceiling. The night air beckoned to them and suddenly they were soaring above the cityscape, Yumi and Muku hanging on desperately to Rhea, who carried them aloft to just under a kilometer above the twinkling lights of nighttime Nerima.

"Holy Mother of Morning..." Yumi gasped as she kept a firm grip upon Rhea.

"Don't worry," Rhea replied, "I've got you both and I won't drop you."

"You've got us?" Yumi blinked, "But...who's got you?"

"You can fly?" Muku asked, surprised at making such a stunningly obvious declaration.

"Of course," Rhea answered, "It's but one of my inherent abilities."

"You never told me you could fly!" Muku stammered, her grip on Rhea's weakened arm becoming all that much tighter.

"You never asked," Rhea answered, then hesitated before adding, "And...I did not want you to feel intimidated. You seemed to be...disturbed before upon discovering my true nature..."

"Yeah?" Yumi asked, "That wouldn't happen to be something about you having Kryptonian genes, would it?"

"Not exactly," Rhea replied, "But you are close-" all at once she stammered and coughed up more orange blood, causing both Yumi and Muku to stare at her in alarm, only to discover the cause was a beam saber-like javelin protruding through her body from back to just slightly off and below her breastbone.

"You didn't think you would escape from me that easy, did you?" Atros sneered, "Now you can all die together-!" she reared back to hurl her other javelin, only to be gripped from behind in a full Nelson.

"And you didn't think that little explosion was really going to take the three of us out, did you?" the Black Iczelion snarled, "Now let's see how you deal with us in Subspace!"

With that both warriors vanished in a burst of pixilation, leaving two frightened young girls and a badly injured Rhea, who was faltering as her mind shut down and went into instant repair mode, which naturally included canceling out the anti-graviton field that was currently holding them aloft over the city.

"Oshit!" Yumi gasped, at once realizing their precarious situation.

Muku stared at the ground, which started to get a lot closer as she looked and reflexively put her arms around Rhea's limp body as if to shelter her, certain it would amount to very little in the end, but with nothing else to fall back upon she prepared to make a very rude landing...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Cliffhangers and Cliffnotes: shadowmane

Is this the end of our intrepid heroines? Can the villainous Atros be stopped in time to prevent making Muku, Rhea and Yumi into Road Pizza? Can anyone Saotome-trained survive a half-mile fall and live? (Well, okay, so it's been known to happen...) Tune in to see how they manage to get out of this one next time in, "Shop 'Til you Drop," or "Going Terminal on your Velocity!" Be there!

X -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	16. Chapter 16

Earthchild16

The Earthchild

(A Ranma/Iczer Crossover)

by Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi &amp; Others)

Chapter Sixteen.

"Man, what a night," Troi mused to herself as she returned home to Gamora base central, "Anything interesting happen while I was away?"

Cobalt could barely contain her fury, "Where were you, and why in the hell did you turn off your location detector? Don't you know that we're in the midst of another full scale crisis?"

"Huh?" Troi blinked as she turned to see the looks focused her way, "What's wrong? Why are you shouting at me all of a sudden...?"

"We haven't been able to track down either you or your sisters for the past hour," Sepia more calmly explained, "And several minutes ago we detected a signature wave measuring of a level and intensity equal to that of an Iczer."

"Another one?" Troi goggled, turning to Sister Grey and asking, "Any idea who it is this time, Mom?"

"We don't know," Sister Grey replied, "But it most definitely is not Nova. We dispatched the Iczelions to the area only moments ago, but..."

"Master Sepia!" one of the Monitors spoke up, "The Iczelions have made contact and they have identified the contact point as someone from our archives...subject Iczer Class Three-Beta...code named..."

"ATROS?" Troi started as the visual image appeared of a black-haired, red, white and black clad armored figure, "They're sending Atros this time?"

"Your other sister?" Cobalt remarked, "Has she also been resurrected?"

"Apparently so," the Monitor observed, her headband registering unusually vigorous light-flickering activity, "She destroyed a portion of a mall in order to escape field containment, but the Iczelions are in pursuit and have carried the battle into subspace..."

"Master Sepia!" another Monitor called out, "We have a life-level reading on Iczer Four...Rhea-chan's vital signs have suffered an acute disruption and she has shut down into autorepair mode!"

"Troi...?" Sepia asked.

"I'm on it!" Troi cried, teleporting at once as she instinctively to where she sensed the signs of battle were currently raging.

"Will she be in time?" Cobalt asked in obvious concern.

"Difficult to say," Grey replied, "Against a conventional opponent, most definitely...but against Atros, who is physically her equal in every respect..."

"Sir!" Sister Amber called out from her station, "We have a data analysis of subject Atros taken by the Iczelions' internal scanners...we just run a genetic test to confirm her identity and...look at this!"

An image appeared in the air that formed itself into a colorful holographic image of a DNA strand, paired up alongside to others with various highlighted portions signifying a color-coded match.

"WHAT?" Grey said with alarm, staring at the strands in disbelief, "Can this be confirmed? It's incredible...I don't believe it..."

"You don't believe what?" Cobalt asked, wondering privately to herself why it always seemed as if Techno-Organic engineers operated within their own self-  
contained worlds of data streams and numbers.

"This changes everything we thought we knew about this particular enemy," Grey replied, "Troi must be informed of this at once...she has to know what she is dealing with in Atros!"

"Establish a data-link with Troi as soon as she opens herself to our relay net," Sepia commanded.

"We are unable to do that at this time, Master Sepia," a Monitor related, "Troi is engaging her enemy and has shut herself off from external communication."

"Oh great," Cobalt growled, "That's typical for that little hothead..."

"Let me know as soon as she makes herself available for communication," Cobalt urged, "I have to tell my daughter just who it is she's fighting against...it might affect the entire outcome of their fight...but for good or ill I cannot as yet determine."

"And what of Rhea?" Sepia asked.

"We are monitoring, Deputy Commander," one of the Monitors replied, "But...as for her current status..." she hesitated, leaving the others to collectively wonder what was going on in the field of battle...

Yumi seemed unnaturally calm for someone who was about to reach terminal velocity with a sudden stop only a few seconds following this. With under a thousand meters to fall she seemed to reach inside herself and call forth something that was hidden and which lay dormant on most occasions, using the few seconds it took to call forth an alteration in her appearance to summon up her powers so that she could spread her body wide, catch the air currents and begin to drift while pointing both hands downward as she released her own projected force-wave.

Muku was only dimly aware of a cold draft blowing near her as she clung to the injured Rhea, having nothing else to hold as the darkness of night threatened to claim them. She opened her eyes to see what seemed like rings of energy flowing down the length of Yumi's hands as her friend stared resolutely at the ground beneath them, and then they suddenly hit something firm-yet-yielding, which caused Muku to gasp in shock more than impact, Rhea's body being driven a bit more firmly into her chest and almost knocking the wind out of her sails as their downward plunge was broken by a shocking wave of cold white snowflakes.

When it at long last dawned on Muku that she was no longer falling and was very much still alive, she opened her eyes again to stare up a long tunnel, seeing stars reflecting down at her through a corridor of gray matter that had formed around her and broken her fall like a huge comforter pillow. A few moments of contemplation clarified to her what was causing that sense of cold that gripped her body, and then at last she understood what had just happened and gasped, "Snowflakes?"

A pair of hands dug through the snow and a moment later Yumi was smiling at her brightly, albeit a Yumi surrounded by that peculiar glamour that made her seem more like a fuku-clad princess, complete with jeweled tiara.

"Well, are you impressed?" Yumi asked, "I've been practicing this particular maneuver for quite a while now, and it turns out to work pretty good in a clinch, don't you think?"

"You created a cushion of snow to break our fall?" Muku asked.

"Loosely packed with lots of space between the snowflakes," Yumi noted, "Like falling through forty meters of cotton candy. Of course when it melts it'll turn into the mother of all slushees, but by that time you should be able to drag yourself out of there, along with your girlfriend."

Muku again became aware that the only warm thing in her immediate environment was Rhea, who was still as motionless as before and had the feeling of a limp rag doll. Fortunately that beam saber that had penetrated her body was no longer in evidence, though when Muku moved a hand to the point of entry she felt the slick wetness there and a space so wide that it almost made her own heart stop. Without needing to be prompted, she let Yumi haul them both out through the tunnel that her Senshi friend had just created.

Once they were both dragged clear of the giant snowball, Muku set Rhea down on the ground and stared in dismay at the other girl's injury, seeing her borrowed tank-top discolored by the rust-like effect her blood seemed to have on regular clothing. The wound-thankfully-had stopped bleeding by this point but it was located in an area that would indicate that a lung had been penetrated. The lance had seemed to miss the heart by such a tiny fraction that it hardly even mattered, but considering that it was composed of energy it no doubt would have cauterized normal human flesh, so there was no telling how much actual damage had been sustained by the Iczer's internal organs.

"It's bad, isn't it?" Muku asked as Yumi set to work doing a quick medical evaluation, being a trained nurse and having a Pediatrician for a mother being good recommendations for the role of an emergency paramedic.

"I won't lie to you, Muku-chan," Yumi replied, "It's bad for a human...but for her? I really don't know what to say. She's just alien enough that she might be able to survive this, but she needs immediate medical attention, and I don't even want to think how much of that orange goop she calls blood she's lost. Too bad we don't have anyone nearby who could rig up a transfusion."

"Can't you do anything for her?" Muku asked, "One of your Senshi tricks maybe...?"

"No good," Yumi shook her head, "As Sailor Hermes I do have some limited healing abilities, but she needs help from someone who's intimate with her anatomy and can treat her with whatever medications are useful to her people. I can try to sustain her vital signs...or I could freeze her into cryogenic stasis, but I'm not sure what effect that could have on her, or if it might even worsen her condition. Perhaps if Yui were here the two of us might be able to do something..."

"Somebody mention me?" asked another fuku-clad figure, who came leaping to join them, her form only vaguely identifiable as belonging to one Yui Hibiki.

"Thank the Stars, Cousin!" Yumi cried, "Quick, I need your help! Join your power with me and we'll perform a Healing spell that might keep Muku-chan here from losing a girlfriend."

"What happened to her?" Yui asked, seeing Rhea on the ground, then stopping herself as she got a better look at the injury, "On second thought...I don' t think I want to know. A healing spell, you say? I'll have to go double for this one."

"If you need a little water to help you out," Yumi raised a hand and summoned up a snowball, then tossed it over her friend's head. Yui melted it with a single glance and then allowed the water to fall down over her, and suddenly there were two Yuis standing before them, both Fuku clad though one was in red dress and the other in purple.

"Deimos," said one.

"And Phobos...at your service," added the other.

"Swell," Yumi nodded, then gently nudged Muku away, "Give us a little room to work with here, Muku-chan...this is a job for us Senshi, and you're better off keeping your distance and praying."

Muku hated to be forced to leave Rhea's side, finding her emotions were in a complete tumble as she stared at the pallid form of the fallen Bioroid and felt her veins turn to icewater. She knew from prior experience, though, that there was little that she could do when it came to what her friends termed "Senshi business," and so she stood back as instructed and waiting, all the while silently offering a prayer to the Kami for the sake of the fallen Rhea. She did not even avert her eyes when Yumi and the two Yuis linked hands and began glowing, summoning up their formidable powers in order to gather the energy needed to do their planetary spellcasting.

Even as she watched her friends attempt to revive the stricken Rhea, she wondered about the one who had put the Bioroid in such a critical condition, and wondered also if the three armored women would prove up to the challenge of containing her, or possibly if this nightmare was only just beginning...

Troi followed the trace of the Iczelions, reasoning that was the fastest way to find Atros, her niece still turning up negative on a location scan, though her life sign readings were definitely nearing the red zone. She felt an uncharacteristic surge of self-recrimination about that, not having suspected that all three senior Iczers should have been following her example of opting for "stealth mode" in order to spend some "quality time" with their partners, but what were the odds of it happening during such a critical attack? She only knew that her sisters would conjointly blame her and themselves if Rhea ceased to function because of their collective decision.

Of course she had no illusions that the bulk of the blame would fall upon her shoulders, and no way did Troi want to have to give an accounting for why she had wanted to put herself incommunicado...and it was not as if her ultra-  
responsible older siblings would understand Troi's reasoning for her seduction of the virginal Sakura. Two alone would have a fit about the daughter of her old Sensei being Troi's latest conquest, and she did not even want to think of what kind of a row there would be about that if such a delicate matter came to light as the cause for poor Rhea's condition.

Besides which she had a pretty idea of what the Iczelions would be up against if Atros was anything like her old self in the old days. She might have turned traitor to Neos and sided with the good guys near the end, but Troi had a sneaking suspicion that Gold would hardly revive her without taking large steps to prevent such a thing recurring in the present.

So it was that she phased into Subspace around the location of the three Iczelions currently engaging Atros...and-as Troi had suspected-they were getting the worst of the encounter, especially since Atros (like Troi herself) was no longer a child but had a fully adult body, with power levels commensurate to such an age advancement.

Not only was Atros larger and stronger, but she seemed a whole lot more savage too as Troi discovered upon approaching the makeshift battle zone, and seeing Kiiro Ijima getting body-slammed against the side of a major rock formation. The impact did more damage to the rocks than to Kiiro herself, but the pink-  
haired Idol singer was reeling from what portion of the impact managed to penetrate her armors integral shielding.

"You weaklings are no match for me!" Atros declared, right before Kawai Kawaii tried a beam attack that slammed in Atros from a flanking angle.

The black-haired Bioroid was barely even phased by the beam and immediately produced her twin sabers, hurling them like boomerangs at two sharply arching angles that converged on Kawai's position, forcing the Silver Iczelion to call off her attack and instead reach for her boomerangs to deflect the laser lances before they could impact against her armor's shielding. Kawai barely had time to recover when Atros came barreling at her with outstretched foot aimed for her helmet, and though the brown haired girl tried rolling with the kick, enough kinetic force penetrated through her shielding to send her tumbling sideways like a soccer ball fired out from a cannon.

Nami Shiina tried attacking while Atros's focus was elsewhere, but though the Black Iczelion was fast, deadly and nearly as ruthless a fighter as her opponent, still Atros managed to dodge out of the way of her attack with such speed that it almost appeared as though she had teleported from the spot. The blonde Nami was just attempting to recover her bearings when Atros appeared directly behind her, to deliver a double-fisted hammer-blow and downward slam that sent the Iczelion crashing to earth with such force that Nami created a sizeable crater on impact.

Atros stretched out her hands and caught her returning beam sabers, then peered down at her fallen foe and said, "You annoy me the most, so I will deal with you first. Let's see how you feel about being pinned like an insect!"

Atros lifted her lances high and prepared to carry out her diabolical threat when Troi called out, "YO, STINKY FACE! WHY DON'T YOU GET A REAL FIGHT FROM SOMEBODY WHO KNOWS THE SCORE EVEN BETTER THAN YOU!"

"So," Atros turned to regard Troi, "You finally came out from hiding to meet with me...dearest sister."

"Huh?" Troi blinked, "You remember that we're related?"

"How could I forget," Atros sneered, "I was cloned from you to be your exact opposite in every detail...I'm the darkness to your light, and my one purpose in life is to destroy you...sister."

"You changed...or maybe you haven't changed after all," Troi frowned, "Still as pompous as ever, only twice as annoying."

Atros launched her assault, but Troi was ready to meet with her and had both of her own beam sabers in hand, blocking the other warrior's double-beam attack and deflecting it with ease before thrusting forward and forcing Atros to go on the defensive. A few quick exchanges later and they parted to take new stock of one another's abilities and to further assess their relative skill levels.

"You've improved," Atros noted, impressed by the other woman's defenses.

"I've had good teachers," Troi replied, "And you're not much better than you were the last time we fought."

"I have improved in ways you cannot imagine...dearest Sister," Atros sneered, "Observe."

All at once there were two identical versions of Atros hovering in the air and confronting a surprised Troi, and then there were four, eight, sixteen and finally thirty two, all surrounding Troi and each holding up a matching pair of beam sabers.

"Huh," Troi said as she recovered, "Big deal...I've seen this illusion before lots of times, and I've always beaten it the same way...by taking out the real you!"

"DON'T BE SO SURE YOU KNOW OUR SECRET," all thirty-plus Atroses chorused as they each attacked together, presenting Troi with a virtual forest of lances slicing down at her position.

Of course Troi spot-teleported out of there, but when she appeared off to the side she was amazed to see the multiple sabers all collide and halt each other at the center of the ring, forming a glowing snowball-like effect where all of the tips seemed to be touching together.

"What?" Troi gasped, right before the space between saber tips formed a ball of energy that rapidly expanded...and then exploded the next instant...

Some distance away a young boy lifted his head, hearing explosions that sounded as though they were happening many kilometers away from his position. He debated going to investigate, then turned to look back at the half-covered body of a woman laying on her blankets before the camp fire. Said woman was tensing and moving in her sleep, restlessly tossing and turning as though in the throes of a nightmare, and Tenma was very reluctant to leave her side while she was in this condition.

Fiber dreamed a memory, a time that had happened very long ago, at the climax of her previous life, when she had been badly injured in a fight and was now kneeling before her creator begging for her life while being jeered upon by her fellow Comet sisters.

"Please, Neos-sama!" she pleaded, "It was not my fault...she called herself Iczer Three and claimed to be Iczer One's new sister..."

"Do you take me for a fool?" Neos had sneered back, "How dare you show your face before me with such a cheap excuse for your failure? You disgust me beyond words, Fiber, and this pathetic story about Iczer One having a sister..."

"But it's the truth!" Fiber insisted, "She was too strong for me, I was no match for her...forgive me!"

"Fiber," Golem had declared sternly, "You know the penalty for failure...accept your fate and show some dignity."

"You really should not have failed Neos-sama if you wished to continue to live," Insect jeered, "I could have dealt with such a minor threat myself without bringing shame to the cause of Neos-sama."

"And such a ridiculous lie," Bigro snorted, "Iczer Three...as if the C'thuwulf would dare to send another Bioroid to fight in Iczer One's place."

"But it is the truth, I tell you!" Fiber cried out, "Neos-sama..."

"BEGONE WITH YOU!" Neos had declared coldly, and the next instant Fiber cried out as an energy field surrounded her whole body, disintegrating her into her constituent atoms...

...And Fiber awoke with a sharp scream, having relived the point of her own death, only to find herself very much alive, though nominally in very poor physical condition.

"Take it easy," Tenma urged, "You were just having a nightmare."

"A...nightmare?" Fiber replied, panting hard as if her lungs required oxygen, "Ridiculous...I do not dream..."

"Could have fooled me," Tenma said as he fed another stick to the fire in order to keep it going, "What was all that bitching and moaning about? Something about an Iczer Three and some guy named Neos?"

"Iczer Three?" Fiber belatedly examined the eleven-year-old child, "You...heard all of that?"

"Kind of hard to miss," Tenma remarked, "Maybe if I stuffed my ears full of wax I could have missed it..."

Fiber tried to sit up and compose herself, but the damages her body had received impaired her movements, so she winced a little and opted to stay with her weight balanced on one elbow. She regarded the boy with a frankly skeptical look then asked, "Why are you looking after me?"

"Well, you looked like you needed some help, so I guessed that rest was the best thing I could do for you," Tenma replied, "I don't expect any thanks from you or anything like that, you being one of the bad guys and all..."

"But...why would you look after me when you might have terminated my functions?" Fiber insisted.

"Why would I wanna do that?" Tenma asked, "It was your boss who was gonna do that to you when I stopped her. If I wanted you dead, wouldn't I have just kept my nose out of it and left you to whatever your boss was planning."

"Yes," Fiber frowned, "So why did you risk yourself like that? Have you no idea of the power that Neos has at her disposal?"

"I got a pretty good idea when we fought," Tenma replied, "But so what? My Pop's faced much tougher guys than that and come out on top. She seemed to think she was pretty hot, right up until I blasted her with my proton gauntlets."

Fiber remembered the incident vividly, but more to the point, she had some idea how it had happened, "That is because you were charging them with your own personal energy. How is it that a mere human commands so much vast potential?"

"Heck, I'm a Saotome," Tenma said smugly, "It just runs in the family. Besides...it's like it's too easy to make stuff work out here...there's all this energy you can tap into, it really ain't all that hard for somebody with Anything Goes training."

"Anything Goes?" Fiber repeated.

"Yep," Tenma said cockily, "Musubetsu Kakuto Ryu, my Pop's school of martial arts. He's the best fighter in the whole world and nobody can beat him. Sure, there's plenty of tough guys who show up now and then to give Pop a workout, but he always comes out on top, even when he's fighting my Uncle Terry, who's almost as tough and once beat a god in a battle."

Fiber arched an eyebrow to this, "Does the Earth truly boast such formidable fighters? I...seem to recall doing battle with a group calling itself the Justice League...but once we took down their satellite it was far too easy to neutralize their organization..."

"You guys are the ones who invaded the Earth back in Pop's time?" Tenma looked visibly impressed, "Wow, that happened way before I was even born! I heard that a group of aliens tried taking over the planet, but they got stomped by some superheroes in the end...I'm not sure if it was the Dyna League or that group in America that calls itself the Avengers..."

"It was...Iczer Three," Fiber reluctantly admitted, "Those other groups you mention...did not prove as formidable as their reputation would imply..."

"Iczer Three?" it was Tenma's turn to look faintly puzzled.

"I think...these days she is calling herself...Troi," Fiber paused, "Though why she should opt for a change in name designation like that..."

"Troi?" Tenma whistled, "That cute girl with the fluffy white hair? Wow, I didn't know she was that tough! Pop trained her older sister, y'know..."

"He did?" Fiber blinked, surprised at the notion that a human could teach anything useful to an Iczer.

"Yeah, but it happened when I was really little, I don't remember too much about stuff like that," Tenma sighed, "So, you fought with Superman, Thor, Captain America and Sunfire?"

"Not...those individuals whom you mention, not precisely," Fiber reluctantly conceded, "Neos lured them into subspace and trapped them where they could do no good for the Earth...and with your most powerful warriors thus helpless to prevent we Sisters of the Comet from attacking your world and neutralizing your military defenses..."

"I figured it had to be something like that," Tenma nodded sagely, "You Bad Guys always cheat so you don't have to go up against the guys who could really kick your tailbone."

Fiber bristled at the insult, "And what would you, a mere child, know about such matters?"

"Hey, what's not to know?" Tenma replied, "I read a lot of Manga and watch a lot of Anime, and on my favorite shows the bag guys always act sneaky and underhanded, like a straight one-on-one fight's beneath you or something. I'll bet anything that if you had to go up against Raiden he'd knock you for a loop with his giant hammer...but I guess that's all over for you now since your Boss kicked you out of your evil organization."

"For your information, I was not 'kicked out' of anything...I had failed in my mission and was about to be terminated..." Fiber started to correct.

"Yeah, same difference," Tenma replied, "So...what are you gonna do with your life now that you're no longer officially one of the Bad Guys?"

Fiber had to blink at that, "What will I...do?"

"Yeah," Tenma said, "Your boss thinks you're dead, right? And if she finds out you're not, then she's gonna come after you again to finish the job. That means you've either gotta figure out some way of getting back at her or else you gonna have to lay low for a while, get a real job or something like that..."

"A job?" Fiber was dumbfounded.

"Yeah," Tenma replied, "My mom always says to my Pop that he ought to get a real job any time he starts complaining about running a dojo. She means it as a joke, of course, since Mom's business is making okonomiyaki, which she's really, really good at! Are you good at something? You got any hobbies, anything you like to do when you're by yourself?"

"Well...I...don't know..." Fiber's voice trailed off as she actually thought about the matter, "I...have no other function but to serve Neos..."

"Oh, I get it," Tenma said, "All you know is how to destroy stuff, right? Typical bad guy...you're so used to doing mayhem and destruction that you never get around to planning for the future. Don't you have anything else besides blowing stuff up that you think is fun?"

"I...well..." Fiber reluctantly replied, "I do weave things...my fibers are deadly, hence my namesake, Fiber..."

"Fiber huh?" Tenma smiled, "That's a nice name...for a cute girl like you."

"Cute?" Fiber reacted as if physically slapped, "I am not 'CUTE,' I am a creation of destruction, a weapon who has ravaged entire worlds! I am what Neos made me..."

"Geez," Tenma winced, "Except for that last part, you sound just like my sister. Anybody calls her cute, she flattens them with her spatula...must get that from our mother..."

Fiber bristled, "I assure you that I am nothing like your family...or anyone else upon your world. You have no idea what I could do if I...were not so badly damaged..."

"Yeah, that's something else I've been meaning to ask," Tenma noted, "Are you some kind of robot or android? I mean...you look real pretty, but it's pretty obvious you've got artificial parts, and you kind of look something like a mannequin, so I kind of wondered if you might be a Cyborg, or something like that."

"I am a Bioroid," Fiber replied, "I was artificially created in the form that you see now. I am a living organism who has artificial parts as an extension of my being..."

"Cool," Tenma said, "Must be pretty neat being a Bioroid...I've seen a lot of shows about guys just like you who start out being all mean and destructive but who learn about humanity and change their ways in the end..."

"That cannot happen," Fiber replied, "I am a product of my internal programming. To deviate from my core beliefs...is not possible..."

"Yeah, so...what are those 'core beliefs' anyway?" Tenma asked, "What do you want to do with your life other than destroy things?"

"Nothing," Fiber insisted, "That is my primary function."

"But you also like to weave stuff," Tenma pointed out, "That don't sound too destructive."

Fiber started to respond to this but faltered. It belatedly occurred to her that she was debating her life with a mere child, and yet this child did have strange insights and seemed unusually bright for the species.

Tenma seemed to think a moment then said, "Bet you never really thought about it, huh? Destroying stuff is all you know, but what do you do after stuff gets destroyed? What's left for you when there's nothing else to destroy?"

"I...well...then I move on," Fiber replied, "There are always more worlds to conquer in the service of Neos."

"Doesn't sound like too much fun if you ask me," Tenma noted, "Don't you ever get tired of just destroying stuff? I mean...what good is it to conquer somebody if there's nobody left to conquer? If they're all dead, then you got nothing left to do, right?"

"..." Fiber had to admit that it did sound like a very limited kind of existence.

"You ask me, your life sounds kind of empty," Tenma noted, "Don't you have any friends or family, any guys you like to hang out with after all the fighting's over?"

"My...sisters and I are all that I have...had," she hastily corrected, then a strange sort of sadness filled her as she added, "They...have already been destroyed by Neos-sama..."

"Geez, she doesn't believe in giving you guys a break, does she?" Tenma asked, "You got hurt fighting for her and all she can do is try and punch out your ticket. Just like a major villain, she's got no respect for her own people."

"She...does not believe that she is accountable...to anyone but her own creator, Big Gold," Fiber reluctantly admitted.

"No wonder you guys lose all the time," Tenma sniffed.

Fiber looked at the youth again and said, "What?"

"Well, I just figured out why you lose," Tenma explained, "You don't care about nobody, even yourself. Your boss doesn't care about you and you don't care about the people you stomp on. That means you got nothing else to live or die for except fighting...in other words, when you go into a fight you got nothing, so it don't matter really whether you lose or win since you're just the same either way..."

"That's not true," Fiber retorted, "Winning is everything...to lose in battle is to disgrace yourself and those you serve..."

"Which works just fine if you're a Samurai," Tenma replied, "But even those guys had a personal life, like a home and family and all sorts of hobbies. Pop says the way of Budo means you build your life around the martial arts, but you make the time to do other stuff that you enjoy doing, like flower arranging or Karaoke."

"Karaoke?" Fiber repeated.

"Yeah," Tenma replied, "It's where guys who can't carry a tune get to sing whatever songs they like and nobody seems to mind if they're good at it or not. Mom and Pop like to do it when we go out on the town together...of course my Aunt Nabiki says that Karaoke is another word for 'tone deaf'..."

"Singing...for pleasure?" Fiber blinked, "You can have...fun...doing things like this?"

"Sure," Tenma replied, "Lots of fun! And when you have fun in life, then you know that life's worth defending...you know what you've got to fight for, and why losing can mean bad things happening to the people you care about. Pop always fights his best knowing that he's defending us against guys who want to hurt us...but Mom's a great fighter too, and she often watches Pop's back to see he keeps out of trouble..."

"Your parents...fight as a team," Fiber said slowly, "Much like...partners..."

"Yeah," Tenma replied, "Pop always says that Mom's the best part of him, that without her he'd be only half the guy he is, and I believe it. Some day I hope I find somebody who's worth fighting alongside...it'd be great to have somebody like Mom to fight with...of course I don't mean no stupid girl or nothing by that, if you know what I mean..."

"No," Fiber replied, "I do not believe that I do...understand..."

"That's okay," Tenma replied, "You'll figure it out for yourself, sooner or later. I'm just saying that it'd be nice if you had something to fight for besides destroying things. Believe me, it feels a whole lot better knowing that you did it to protect somebody, rather than just hurt them."

"I...think that I...do see some...logic in that..." Fiber hesitantly admitted, wondering what else in life was worth fighting for but to destroy, ravage, retaliate and punish...

Punish? Where had that thought come from, and what was she thinking to retaliate against?

"Give yourself some time," Tenma counseled, "Maybe you'll find out that there's something else you like to do besides destroy stuff. By the way...how's the shoulder?"

"It is...healing...slowly," Fiber replied, "My internal repair systems appear to be intact and are functioning within acceptable parameters..."

"Uh...yeah," Tenma scratched behind the back of his head, "Guess that means you gotta rest up and let your body heal, which is what Pop always tells me to do when I get hurt. Why don't we stick together for a while until you're all better? It's kind of lonely in a place like this...and I wouldn't mind having you around for a bit."

"You...would not mind my being close to you...knowing what I have done and what I can do when I am restored to full operation?" Fiber replied.

"Well, if you wanna hurt me, that could be a problem," Tenma smiled, "But you don't really got any reason to wanna do that, do you? Besides, I'm a lot tougher than you'd think I am just looking at my size, and I can hold my own when I have to."

Fiber again recalled the fight against Neos and reluctantly agreed that this child was not one to be underestimated.

"I do not understand you," she admitted after a long moment of reflection, "Why do you care about what happens to me? Why did you risk your life against Neos..."

"Seemed like the right thing to do at the time," Tenma replied, "And why'd you help me out there at the end with that cocoon thing?"

"I..." Fiber had to concede that it was an amazingly good question. Why had she acted the way she had to protect this boy? It had been an impulsive gesture, and somehow she doubted that it had anything to do with programming.

The sounds of distant explosion grew loud once again, and Tenma turned to frown before saying, "I wonder if anybody I know's getting into a fight? Maybe I should go have a look since you're feeling all better."

"That would not be wise," Fiber cautioned, "There are Venomoids, Voids and Geas all around this area, and if any of them should discover us it could mean our doom."

"I can handle myself against stuff like that," Tenma said dismissively, but then noticed the expression on Fiber's face and said, "But maybe you're right...I shouldn't leave you all alone out here when you can't really defend yourself..."

Once again Fiber bristled, "I can manage for myself...I don't need your pity..."

"So who's giving you pity?" Tenma asked, "I'm just saying that us Saotome men can't go around deserting helpless women, it ain't right, it ain't Budo..."

"Are you telling me that you adhere to some ridiculous notions about chivalry...and that is why you choose to stay beside me?" Fiber was incredulous.

"What so ridiculous about that?" Tenma countered, "It ain't that I'm calling you weak or nothing, but you just can't fight too good while you're healing, and I won't leave you while you're all beat up like this. I couldn't look Pop in the eye again if I did that."

It was infuriating how the child's logic seemed to short circuit every avenue that Fiber used to make him leave her, and in the end she gave it up as a futile effort. The boy plainly saw her as a female of his own species, even after her carefully explaining what a Bioroid was in terms even a simple minded human should have been able to understand. It was far less trouble to simply go along with the Boy's reasoning while shutting away those elements of their conversation that were proving to be so deeply disturbing. The plain truth was that Fiber needed time to heal, and so she needed a protector, and clearly the boy regarded himself as one, much though the notion that she should be reduced to relying upon a child was bruising to her ego.

The sounds of fighting, while seemingly distant, were of some concern to her as time and distance within Subspace were mere illusions and could even be quite deceptive. Whoever was doing battle, she hoped that they wold not come near to her current position else she would have to rely on the boy to protect her. She needed many more hours before she could use her left arm effectively, and until that time she could not do much in the way of offensive or defensive weaving. She had no servitors to summon to her defense, no Venomoids or Geas soldiers to do her bidding, and nothing she dared to summon from her lair back on her original timeline...doing so would alert Neos to her continued existence. And so she decided to close down her less important functions for a while in order to speed up the process of regeneration, leaving the matter of the boy and his infuriating ideas to be resolved later as she closed her eyes and sat in a meditative posture, ignoring the sounds of explosion as her mind began to drift and all her senses were shut down to the barely autonomic.

Doing so, however, she heard the boy softly murmur, "I wonder what Pop and Mom are doing right now...or my big sister...I wonder if they miss me...?"

I wonder if they miss me...the words echoed in Fiber's mind...and for some curious reason she felt her body reflexively suppress an inexplicable shudder...

Troi found the battle with Atros a little too disturbingly like their first time acing one another, like a severe case of "d j vu all over," all the more disturbing at how evenly matched they were, for all that there were new differences now in their methods of fighting.

Nami Shiina was just then recovering from her bone-numbing landing, grateful that her armor had once again absorbed the worst of the impact. She had never faced an opponent so elusive and near-unstoppable as this Atros, yet for some strange reason the enemy Iczer had not bothered to finish her off when she could. To judge by the resonating sounds of battle in the air above her head, it seemed to Nami that she owed someone for a rescue.

Kiiro was feeling alongside her head beneath her armored helmet, thinking to herself that singing in front of a live audience of music critics had never seemed this brutal. A veteran of many battles, she was still full of fire and the desire to fight, but Atros was proving too much for even the combined efforts of both her and her fellow Iczelions. They needed a new plan of attack if they were going to survive the next hour with all limbs intact on their bodies.

"Are you all right?" asked the familiar voice of Kawai, causing Kiiro to open her eyes and see her friend and fellow Iczelion looking at her in concern.

"I think so," Kiiro admitted, then looked around, "Where's the bad guy?"

"Up there," Kawaii nodded towards the sky, "Troi showed up to engage her and the two of them are now locked in a major battle."

"Yeah, so I see," Kiiro noted, watching the rapid play of matching sets of twin saber-lances striking out at one another and countering the attacks and thrusts of both combatants, "Think maybe we should go up there and give Troi a hand?"

"Do you think it would make any difference?" Kawaii asked.

"It might," Nami reported as she approached them both on foot, the heavy tread of her black Iczelion armor giving her otherwise smooth stride a ponderous measure, "But I think we should hold off for a bit and wait to see if Troi needs our assistance."

"You're right," Kawai said, "We might just get in her way if we rush in there unannounced."

"Maybe so," Kiiro frowned, "But I didn't become an Iczelion just to sit on the sidelines and watch somebody else having fun."

"Our time and opportunity will come," Nami assured her partners, only to hear Troi calling down to them during the middle of her locking sabers with Atros.

"WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU CLOWNS DOING DOWN THERE?" Troi demanded, "Where is Rhea, and why aren't you guys going to help her out? She's been wounded, dammit!"

"Rhea-chan?" Kawai asked.

"Didn't she escape with her friends and partner?" Kiiro asked.

"Ah..." Nami paused a moment then said, "I believe...that she was injured during her flight..."

"What?" Kawai asked with a shocked expression.

"You left her alone when she was injured?" Kiiro said in disbelief.

"I...had my hands full with Atros at the time," the blonde reluctantly admitted, "There was no time to go to her assistance, and I could hardly leave you two battling that demoness..."

"Let's hope that she's still all right," Kawai said urgently.

"If she isn't, then Nagisa will roast the three of us alive!" Kiiro said with a look of horror.

"I believe I know where she landed," Nami noted, silently praying that Rhea and her friends survived the fall that had been facing them when she had left, "Follow me, we must go to her at once."

The three Iczelions vanished from Subspace, leaving Troi and Atros to continue with their fighting.

"Your friends are deserting you," Atros sneered.

"Give me a break!" Troi smiled back, "I didn't want them to get hurt, but with them gone...I can really cut loose, you Copy!"

"What...?" Atros started to say, only to react in dismay as Troi began glowing like a sun, and then an explosion-similar to the one she tried to use on Troi only moments ago-caused the air to rock and threw Atros backwards for a fair distance.

By the time the black-haired Iczer recovered her bearings she barely had time to brace herself as Troi came barreling out from the smoke of her own blast trailing fire like a comet. Atros felt the force of impact against first her kinetic shielding and then her own solar plexus as Troi drove her elbow into the other Bioroid's body, knocking the wind from her sails and sending her flying for over a kilometer before managing to stop her momentum.

"Hah, how do you like that, loser?" Troi crowed, "Bet you forgot all about my Iczer Bomber maneuver!"

Atros grunted but shrugged off an impact that would have been a sizable hole in a star cruiser, "Not too bad...but I've got a trick or two of my own up my sleeve."

"Wha...?" Troi exclaimed as she sensed something heaving appearing directly behind her, and before she could move it moved to engulf and contain her within its grasp.

"Meet my new partner," Atros said with a manic grin, "He's going to help me kill you, not that I didn't want that pleasure reserved for myself..."

"P-Partner?" Troi grunted as she struggled against the heavy arms that were pinning her own to her sides, and belatedly she realized just why the thing was powerful enough to resist her efforts, "You're using a VOID as your partner?"

"Not just any Void," Atros smiled as she prepared her new attack, her fists glowing as she prepared to unleash a blast at point-blank range, "Meet the new and improved kind, hot off the genetic assembly line thanks to Gold's commission..."

"You're insane!" Troi cried as she saw her opponent's glowing hands point in her direction.

"Face it, Sister," Atros leered, "I'm younger and faster than you, and as you can see I pack quite a wallop."

"Do tell?" Troi smiled, and all at once she slipped loose from the arms of the armored creature that had loomed so large behind her, leaving it to receive the full force of the burst that Atros unleashed at point-blank range.

"WHAT?" Atros reacted a bit too slow to the sudden shift, only to feel the force of Troi's fist against the back of her skull, which almost disabled her on the spot had she not flinched away at the last second.

"Face it, Sister," Troi replied, "I'm older and I have more experience at dirty fighting!"

"How did you...?" Atros straightened out her flight, rubbing the back of her head where she was forming a goose-egg sized lump.

"Trade secret," Troi winked, "Let's just say I know of a lot of ways to thwart a full nelson...what the...?"

To her amazement the huge armored figure of the Void hung there without a scratch, eyes glowing with internal crimson light as its form started to shimmer and grow, then all at once expand outward to cyclopean proportions.

"Try this on for size," Atros leered, "A Demi-Void that can double as an Iczer Robo!"

"No way!" Troi exclaimed as she saw the thing tower over her, almost a hundred meters tall now and still growing.

"And now you'll see the full terrifying power of my new partner, Stratos!" Atros declared as she flew upward and did a somersault before being received into its armored chestplate, at which point the giant began glowing a reddish color, topping out at the full cyclopean size of a genuine Iczer Robo.

"Hooboy," Troi winced, suddenly feeling more than a little bit intimidated.

The giant flexed its arms and then Atros's voice came booming out, "INSIDE THIS MY POWER IS MULTIPLIED A HUNDREDFOLD...AND THROUGH MY PARTNER I HAVE ALL THE ENERGY I NEED TO DESTROY A HUNDRED LIKE YOU! TAKE YOUR BEST SHOT, SISTER DEAREST...AND I'LL EVEN BE SPORTING JUST TO MAKE IT INTERESTING! I'LL GIVE YOU TIME ENOUGH TO SUMMON YOUR OWN ICZER ROBO, THEN I'LL CRUSH IT AND MAKE SHORT WORK OF YOU SINCE YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE A PARTNER TO BACK YOUR PLAY!"

"Ah...right," Troi said, "Um...would it be too much to ask you to wait right here...I'll be back in a moment, I promise."

"YOU HAVE TWO MINUTES!" Atros replied, "AFTER WHICH I'M COMING AFTER YOU, AND I DON'T CARE IF I HAVE TO DESTROY YOUR GAMORAN BASE TO REACH YOU AND KILL ALL OF THE PEOPLE YOU'VE SWORN TO PROTECT-SISTER!"

"Swell," Troi grimaced, vanishing from the spot as desperation was giving her a dangerous plan that needed immediate execution...

"We are still unable to reach Troi," the monitor reported, "She has yet to engage her internal relay system."

"That's just great," Cobalt growled, "Whose idiotic idea was it to give the Iczers the ability to turn on and off their relays?"

"I believe it was a communal decision," Sepia replied, "They wanted to have hours of privacy in which no one could intrude, and we granted it to them."

"I would settle for a human beeper right about now," Grey said, staring again at the complex DNA model, "What a diabolical plan Gold has hatched this time...and how insanely risky...even she cannot imagine the consequences of this action!"

"Sir!" Sister Aquamarine called out, "Iczer Delta has just left its cradle! It's been summoned by Troi...which means she must be facing a real emergency that requires its full power."

"About time," Cobalt snarled, "At least the Iczer Robos have internal communication relays...we should be able to reach her in it once she mounts the control pit."

"Sir!" Aquamarine cried again, "The chest cavity capsule has been activated as well!"

"What?" the normally unflappable Sister Grey reacted with a start, "But...she does not yet have a partner!"

"She must be trying for a substitution," Sepia realized, "But...who in the name of the Goddess will she recruit to be her temporary partner...?"

Sakura stared at the ceiling of her room, unable to get to sleep, unable to stop thinking about what had just occurred only a short time ago, unable to stop thinking about the implications. Try as she might she could not get her encounter with Troi out of her mind...not too surprising, actually, since the ice blonde Iczer had taken her virginity and left her feeling as if she had just made love inside a cement mixer,

Sakura was unable to decide what exactly what she thought about Troi and her methods of seduction. To be certain she had no complaints about her sexual techniques, and-if anything-she felt ironically grateful that Troi had given her such a forceful proof of her sexual inclinations. Her body still hummed to the tune that Troi had played on her nerve endings, and she felt as though she could have danced under the light of the stars to the sense of peace and serenity that filled her being. On the other hand she felt...guilt and remorse, as though something valuable had been taken which could never be replaced, and she knew that she could never go back to being as she was again...her life had changed, and the past was-effectively-over.

The regret was mingled between the loss of her innocence and the knowledge that she now knew how she truly felt about Muku. It was now so plain to her that her best friend meant more to her than just a sparring partner or someone with whom she felt comfortable about hanging around, and a thousand little signs long ignored became ominously clear in their true implications, from "accidentally" borrowing some article of Muku's to all those sketches she had made for her personal portfolio where Muku had been the feature player, the many little things her friend could do that would gain Sakura's undivided attention, even the sound of her voice, which Sakura had privately thought to be quite sexy...

Who was she fooling? Sakura felt torn up about the issue of Rhea, the knowledge that she had possibly let slip a potential outlet for fun that she had never even been aware of until now, and then there was Ken to consider, her benighted iinazuke and the man whom her parents had arranged for her to marry. In truth she genuinely liked Ken, though it was hard to think of him **exactly** as a husband. He was a friend, someone else whom she liked having around, and who affected her in such a way that it confirmed Troi's analysis concerning her bisexual nature.

And what to make of Troi herself? What was one to make of a pointy-eared alien who just swept into her life and decided to make her a temporary love-slave? Sakura was fully aware that there were certain...precedents in their high school, children who were themselves the products of alien and human matings, much like the Moroboshi twins and the children of the House of Masaki...

"Um...excuse me...are you asleep?"

Sakura sat bolt upright, turning to see a figure hovering in the air above the ceiling, "YOU?"

"Me," Troi-who was wearing a strange style of spacey styled-armor-replied, "I'm sorry...we didn't get a chance to talk much when your parents showed up. I left you a bit in the lurch and...well...I'm sorry, but...do you think you have a minute?"

"A minute?" Troi frowned, "If this is another attempt to screw me, you could have picked a better hour..."

"Actually, it's a perfect hour, especially if your folks are asleep from their own bout of sexual exhaustion," Troi sheepishly smiled, "But...it isn't about that. I...need a little favor..."

"You mean the one you took wasn't good enough?" Sakura replied.

"Not this time," Troi sighed, "I like you, honestly I do, and I want to be your friend, but...at the moment...something very important has come up and I need your help. You're a fighter-type, right?"

Sakura stood up, clinging her blankets to her body even though she was wearing her nightie, "I'm the best of my generation...why do you ask?"

"I...need your help," Troi replied, "I'm really sorry about this, and the timing sucks a lot, but if you don't come with me now a lot of very good people are gonna be hurt, and I've got a nut-job who needs taking down...so, if it's not too much trouble...and I warn you, there's considerable risk..."

"You need my skills as a martial artist?" Sakura asked.

"Actually...what I need is you," Troi responded, "There's no easy way to put this, and if there were any other way of going about this..."

"What do you need me to do?" Sakura replied resolutely.

"Take my hand and come with me," Troi said, extending her own to cup Sakura's palm between sensitive fingers.

"You mean...now?" Sakura blinked, "But I'm not dressed..."

"You're dressed just fine for what I need," Troi replied, and promptly teleported the both of them out of her bedroom, manifesting in Subspace almost at the feet of Troi's giant Iczer.

"What the-?" Sakura gasped as a beam shone down over them, lifting her and the Iczer into the air as though drawn by a magnet.

"Just relax, the process is automatic," Troi replied, "And don't forget to relax, and take a deep breath."

"Why?" Sakura gasped, only to find herself drawn into the body of the huge robot, and before she knew it she was submerged in liquid and resting inside of a cradle-like chair with tubes connecting themselves to her naked skin as Sakura's eyes went wide and she started to panic.

"Don't worry, you won't drown," Troi's voice said soothingly, "The liquid is breathable, you can even talk in it, and after a while you won't even realize you're breathing it."

"What is this stuff?' Sakura asked, finding-to her amazement-that she could indeed converse and breathe in the curiously bland-tasting fluid.

"Synthetic Bioamniotic fluid," Troi replied, "It'll sustain all bodily functions and protect you from the shocks and strains of combat. Of course there is a problem with the feedback reflex when we get hit, but I'll try and dampen most of the shock away from you so you won't get too badly roughed up."

"What is this?" Sakura asked, then suddenly realized something, "This is like that robot that took Muku!"

"Same basic model anyway," Troi responded, "This is Iczer Delta, my other self, designed as a two-pilot craft in which I sit in the face and you sit in the chest..."

"Troi?" a new voice broke into the conversation, "Thank the Goddess, you're finally in your Iczer!"

"Mom?" Troi reacted, "What are you doing on this channel?"

"Never mind," Grey replied, "There's something very important that I have to tell you about Atros..."

Sakura was about to ask who that other person was when she noticed that the exterior of the pod that she was floating inside of had just gone transparent...and there facing them was another giant robot!

"Can't this wait, Mom?" Troi asked, "I'm in the middle of something that's pretty important, and my renegade Sis is about to get it on with me in a rumble..."

"That's just it," Grey said insistently, "She isn't your sister, and she's not even your twin!"

"What?" Troi reacted, "You've gotta be kidding!"

"You know I'd never kid you, child," Grey assured her, "We have the tests right here before me and they are definitely conclusive. Atros is related to you, but she is not your clone and not your sister."

"Then who and what the hell is she?" Troi demanded.

"She's your daughter, my child," Grey replied, "The biological offspring of your genetics combined with those of Kano Nagisa!"

There was a stunning pause following this and then Troi gasped aloud, "N-  
NANI...?!"

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Unlikely Combinations: shadowmane

The battle between "Mother" and "Daughter" shifts to high gear as Troi confronts the terrifying truth about Atros, but will the Iczelions arrive in time to get Rhea to the critical ward, and will Sakura manage to cope with being in the passenger seat of a major-league battle of Iczer rumble? Be here next time for: "Matricidal Blues," or "It takes Two to Rumble!" Be there!

X -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works.  



	17. Chapter 17

Earthchild17

The Earthchild

(A Ranma/Iczer Crossover)

by Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi &amp; Others)

Chapter Seventeen.

"It's no use," said Deimos, "She's too alien to heal, and I don't think our planetary magic can help her."

"What?" Muku reacted, "But...you have to help her...she may die without it..."

"She could die even with our help," replied Phobos, "And in any rate, our healing power was meant for humans, not women with constitutions this alien...she may seem human both inside and out, but we can tell just by sensing it that she is composed of entirely different matter."

"Dammit Yui!" Yumi suddenly snapped, surprising everyone as her normally cheerful demeanor hardly seemed temperamentally suited to such hotheaded outbursts, "You're not even half trying! Don't tell me you're giving up this early, we've handled much worse cases than this, and you can't lie to Sailor Hermes and you know it!"

"We're not lying!" Deimos insisted.

"We really don't know how to help this Rhea," Phobos assured them.

"Oh, and is she all that much more alien than a Dark Kingdom general?" Yumi retorted, "Stop lying to yourself! You know full well that the reason you're holding back is because you're jealous!"

"Jealous?" Deimos reacted as if slapped.

"Of her?" Phobos scoffed.

"Of her and Muku!" Yumi countered, "You think I don't know that you've been hiding this all along, and that the real reason you and Sakura always fight is because you're both after the same piece of tail? Get real!"

"What?" Muku blinked her eyes, "W-W-What are you...?"

"You know," Yumi turned to her, "It's really cute when you get all clueless about the way people come on to you, and most of it goes right over your head without you even noticing when a guy or girl gets the hots for your body, but this time it's just plain lame. Of course Yui thinks you're a hot number...we all do! Most guys and girls in our school want to screw you, even those who won't or can't admit it, like umbrella breath over here...or are you going to pretend that I'm just imagining things, Yui?"

"We don't know what you're talking about," Deimos said indifferently.

"We're not a Hentai like Sakura," Phobos affirmed, though neither version of Yui's transformed Senshi self would meet Yumi's level gaze, and both seemed unusually evasive about something.

"Do you really want her blood on your hands because you're too stubborn to admit that you're only human?" Yumi persisted, "You have to use your powers now...pool them with me or it won't make any more difference in a few more minutes."

"I..." Deimos hesitated.

"We..." Phobos paused as if searching for the words she needed to refute the charges against both halves of her dual nature.

"Are those two being difficult again?" a new voice asked, turning the focus of attention away from Yui's external struggles of conscience.

"What...?" Muku turned then sighed, "Oh...it's you, Rini-chan...thank the Kami..."

"How the heck do you do that?" asked a pink haired girl of about their age group, "I'm in my Senshi form and still you know it's me in spite of my glamour."

"I don't really know," Muku replied, "I've just always known it was you, Rini-  
ah-I mean...Princess Moon."

"Right," said the Princess Serenity Chibi, AKA Usagi II, known as Rini to her friends as it was a nick-name acquired to distinguish her from her mother, who turned to Yumi and nodded to the still form of Rhea before saying, "I got a flash that you might need my help, so I winged it over here as fast as I was able. I take it you guys have been having a busy day and that this girl's in need of some serious healing?"

"Right on all three counts, Cousin," Yumi replied, "She's a friend of Muku's who we've only just met the other day, only she's got homicidal enemies who keep showing up, and one of them stabbed her in the back when she was trying to spirit Muku-chan and me to safety."

"Well, if she's one of the good guys, then of course we have to heal her," Rini turned to the two halves of Yui and said, "Right?"

"Of course...Cousin," Deimos reluctantly responded.

"We will...do our part to attempt to heal her...if you command it," Phobos just as reluctantly conceded.

"Then let's get to work, shall we?" the Princess of the Moon held up an ivory handled mirror and said, "Anything I should know about her before I do a Healing Escalation?"

"Just that she's part alien and has a lot of neat abilities, like flying and teleporting and stuff like that," Yumi shrugged, "Other than that she could practically be another relative."

"As if we don't have enough relatives as it is," Deimos grumbled.

"What was that again?" Muku asked.

"Ah...nothing," Phobos answered.

"An alien, eh?" Rini knelt down and placed her hand on Rhea's chest, just above where the wound still shone in all its ugly detail, illuminated by the moon, which was now high overhead for some curious reason, "Yes...I can feel that part of her is not of this world...but there a lot more to her that is human...and I feel a human heart beating in her chest...not as regularly as it should, though...we can't waste any more time talking about this. Muku-chan, stay back and let us do our job."

"Right," Muku said nervously, anxiously wringing her hands as she wished that there was something more helpful and practical that she could be doing while the odd quartet of colorfully dressed women linked hands once again, this time Deimos and Phobos have a more resolute look about them, as if shamed into doing better before the eyes of their Princess.

Rini closed her eyes and changed softly, "Moon Healing Escalation..."

"Mercury Shine Aqua Healing," Yumi intoned reverently.

"Let the Power of Mars shine through us...Deimos..." one twin of Yui intoned.

"And Phobos stand ready...Power of Life Affirmation!" the other twin concluded with a formal invocation.

At once the tiaras on four foreheads began to glow as the gems that each bore there began glowing with the internal light of their Senshi powers. Rini raised her mirror and held it up to the light as the moon reflected off its gleaming surface and bathed Rhea's form in the light of its radiance...a radiance that began to surround her and caused her body to glow as if momentarily becoming phosphorescent.

Muku held her breath as she watched the healing process begin to take shape, and slowly the wound in Rhea's chest began to close as the space within the hole began to fill with replicating cellular matter taking the place of ruined or damaged cells. Within a minute the wound was gone altogether, and seconds after this the pinking area itself returned to a normal coloration, leaving no trace of the wound save for the bloodstains and rupture incurred by Rhea's borrowed tank top.

Rini lowered her mirror and sealed off her power again, then aid, "She's recovering now...we won't be losing this particular patient..."

Muku let out a breath that she had not remembered holding and cried in delight, "Oh, thank you! You have no idea...she'll be all right? Really?"

"As much as I'd like to take the credit for this," Rini smiled, "The truth is that we only just speeded up the process. She started healing on her own somehow almost before my mirror's light began to do its work...she seems to be drawing strength in from somewhere external to her own body, and with any luck her strength should return shortly, though I'd recommend a good rest before attempting any strenuous labor."

"You don't say," yet another new voice asked, "Aren't you a little young to be qualified as a doctor?"

"Eh?" both Deimos and Phobos raised identical umbrellas and stared in dismay at three armored forms who seemed to magically appear around them from out of seeming no where.

"Who are these guys?" Yumi asked.

"We should be the ones asking you this question," said another of the armored forms.

"What did you do to our friend, and who are you?" said a tall blonde in black high-tech armor.

"We asked you first," Rini replied, "And you happen to be referring to our patient."

"We are the Iczelion Corps," said the woman in silver armor, "And Rhea-chan is a very good friend of ours...the daughter of other friends who are as close to us as sisters."

"Hey, wait a minute!" the warrior in gold armor stepped forward, "Aren't you guys the Sailor Senshi?"

"Well...close enough," Yumi mused, "More like their next generation."

"Senshi," the blonde remarked, "We've heard of you, of course...you are supposed to be heroes, while you..." she turned to Muku and said, "Are Rhea-chan's partner."

"Iczelions?" Muku broke her own daze to ask, "Are you also here to help Rhea?"

"We were going to fetch her back home where she could receive medical attention more suited to her constitution than regular medicine," the silver warrior answered, "But...it seems as if someone has done the deed for us."

"Senshi, Oh wow!" the gold warrior enthusiastically clapped her hands, "You guys are way cool! You're awesome!"

These words of praise did a lot of diffuse the tension in the air, though Rini still felt compelled to ask, "You wouldn't happen to know who did this to this girl...Rhea was it?"

"Kano Rhea," Muku automatically corrected, "Are you people from Gamora city?"

"No, we're from Earth," the black armored blonde replied.

"But we work in New Gamora," the silver warrior noted, "And we've had extensive C'thuwulf training."

"C'thuwulf?" Deimos replied.

"There's that name again," Phobos ruefully pointed out.

"Oh, so you've heard about New Gamora?" the golden armored warrior asked, "Nami-  
chan...they're all right, I can vouch for them, they fight scum like Venomoids for a living."

"Fighting Venomoids is a way of life," the blonde haired Black Iczelion duly noted, "But if you already know of us, then there is no reason not to include you in our retrieval process."

"Retrieval process?" Rini asked.

In response to this question, Nami raised one ebony gauntlet to her face and said, "Base, this is Black speaking...we need an area retrieval within five meters radius of where I'm standing."

"What?" Deimos asked.

"What do you mean five meters...?" Phobos began to say when the entire space surrounding them began to glow with a very different radius of before. Muku barely had time to gasp before the light came and went, leaving her and the rest of their party feeling slightly disoriented, though answers would be forthcoming when they got to the point of their eminent arrival, Iczelion warriors and Senshi, plus one very confused Earth girl who fretted a bit more over the condition of her soon-to-recover partner...

Sakura heard Troi gasp aloud, "W-What? No way!"

"I'm afraid the scans are very conclusive on this, my child," Sister Grey responded, "For better or worse, Atros is your daughter, and my granddaughter by implication."

"But I wasn't even six Earth years old when she was created!" Troi persisted, "There's no way that she can be my daughter!'

"Eh?" a different voice responded, one that sounded rather much like Troi, only with a distinctly different speech pattern, "What are you talking about, and who are you talking to? Are you here to answer my challenge, or do you plan on standing around talking to yourself, Sister?"

"Hello?" the one identified as Grey replied, "Is this Atros that I am speaking to?"

"It is," the harsher sounded Troi-like voice replied, "And who is this?"

"I am Sister Grey, Chief Scientist of the C'thuwulf," the matronly voice replied, "And Troi's creator."

"Should I call you mother then?" the one identified as Atros said sarcastically, "Not! I already have a mother..."

"I know," Grey affirmed, "And she is standing right before you waiting to do battle."

"What?" Atros sounded more reserved in her skepticism than Troi, but no less surprised by this announcement, "What are you talking about? I..."

"You were created with the power of the Iczerio, correct?"

"I was created by Neos with the Iczerio energy that she acquired from Iczer Three..."

"Energy that was stolen from her Iczer Robo, Unit Delta," Grey insisted, "And at the time it was being piloted by both Troi and Kano Nagisa, who was in the chest capsule when the Iczerio was torn from its body. Neos unwittingly drew some of the essence of Troi as filtered through Nagisa's biomatrix, the result being you, a child who combines the resulting overlap of their common genetic factors, which makes you Troi's daughter, not her clone, and the child of Nagisa!"

"Me and Nagisa...? No way!" Troi stammered, "It's impossible..."

"It is ridiculous!" Atros dismissed, "I don't know who you really are, but if you think you can distract me with this cheap, pathetic lie, then you are mistaken!"

Sakura saw the other giant robot rear back and form a fist, which same it aimed at the robot they were in, but Troi was too stunned to react in time and received a solid blow to her faceplate that drove their Iczer Robo back a hundred meters distance...at the same time that Sakura felt that blow as though it had been her own face which had been pounded.

"GAAAH!" she cried, amazed to hear sounds other than bubbles in her presently liquid environment, to which she snarled out, "Where did you learn how to fight?"

"S-Sorry about that..." Troi gasped, "I'll try to do better next time..."

"Who is that with you?" a new voice broke into the conversation, "Troi...did you bring a civilian into your Iczer Robo?"

"Yeah, I had to, Cobalt," Troi replied as she recovered, "She's okay...she's a...friend I ran into..."

"You chose a temporary partner to bolster your unit's power levels?" Grey sounded faintly appalled at the concept.

"It's okay, I tell you," Troi insisted, "Our synch levels are close enough that she can manage the strain...I hope."

"You hope?" Sakura reacted.

"Synchronization levels at ninety-four percent?" the one identified as Cobalt replied, "So high? Where did you meet this human?"

"That's kind of unimportant at the moment," Troi replied, "The point is...she's the closest match I've had in quite a while now, and since Nagisa's otherwise occupied at the moment..."

"But a six percent dissonance level is still unacceptably high!" Grey insisted, "If your resonance does not match her biorhythmic overlay just right then there could be a catastrophic feedback that could destroy both her and you!"

"I'll try and take it easy on her," Troi replied, "And I'm filtering out most of the biorelays so she doesn't get fried by the loop...of course it could kind of smart for me if I got above the red zone in my power levels..."

"Do you intend to insult me by carrying on a conversation as if I wasn't here at all?" Atros broke in with clear disdain, even as her Iczer Robo started lumbering forward, "I won't hold back on you if you take my threat for granted!"

"Withdraw!" Cobalt ordered, "Get out of there while you can! We'll find some way to cover for you..."

"No can do, Force Leader," Troi replied, moving her unit into a defensive position, "I run with my tail between my legs and Junior here is going to come pounding on our defenses...and her units powerful enough that she might prove a threat to Gamora."

"A threat you will find all too credible!" Atros snarled as her robot started glowing, and then before Sakura's amazed senses she saw an energy bolt lancing towards them, even as Troi brought her unit's arms up to block the blow, causing it to disperse harmlessly against some sort of invisible shield that she erected about their unit.

"I can't believe this..." Troi said, staring at Atros's unit, "She really did it? You created you from a part of me and Nagisa?"

"Are you still going on about that?" Atros snarled, and suddenly her unit came rushing forward, fist moving like a shot towards their Iczer, causing Sakura to react instinctively as her thought impulses went down to the legs of their giant robot and suddenly they were leaping back out of the way of the huge, lumbering form, even as Sakura willed her fists to move forward, delivering a smashing blow to the back of the other robot's helmet.

Their giant robot completed a tumble and landed back on its legs with such force that the ground itself shook as though from a minor earthquake, and then they whirled about to confront their enemy, who had kept right on going forward to crash faceplate-first into a nearby rock formation.

"Holy Mother of Manga!" Troi exclaimed in surprise, "Did you do that, Sakura-  
chan?"

Sakura blinked her eyes and then glanced around at herself, finding her arms and legs were still held immobile by the restraining harness inside her capsule, "I think I did...it just felt instinctive..."

"She overrode the commands of your controlling station?" Cobalt's voice asked in amazement.

"Obviously Troi has chosen a partner who has a remarkable level of mind and body interface," Grey duly noted, "Her reactions are so fluid and instinctive that they even exceed Troi's own battle hardened reflexes...who is this girl?"

"Ah..." Sakura started to say when Troi broke in, "Not on an open channel. Besides, Junior there looks like she still wants to party."

"HOW DARE YOU DO THAT TO ME?" the voice of Atros rang out at a volume that caused Sakura to flinch in dismay, "FOR THAT I'LL RIP OUT YOUR HEART AND EAT IT BEFORE YOUR EYES..."

"Go stuff yourself!" Troi shot back, "That's some way to talk back to your mother!"

"YOU ARE NOT MY MOTHER!" Atros cried, raising her unit's arms over its head and beginning to glow again as the energy levels increased all around her, and suddenly a crashing wave of energy poured down, bombarding their Iczer Robo in the light of what felt like a meteor shower.

Troi did what she could to block out the attack by intensifying her shields, but the effort left her taxed even as Sakura felt the stinging sensation all along her arms and legs as though what happened to the robot was happening to her own body. She saw the other unit come rocketing towards them with a fist now sporting a wicked blade, and without even having to think about it she responded, moving her unit to the side with one arm raised to intercept and deflect this new attack, stumbling the enemy robot forward as she spun her unit around and lashed out with an elbow that caught it in the back of its heavily armored neck area.

Troi felt more than a bit shaken up, having absorbed the worst of that attack on her own person, but not too badly distracted that she failed to note what Sakura was doing and responded with a, "WHOAH! Not too shabby! Maybe you should be the one doing the driving!"

"I don't even know what I'm doing here!" Sakura reacted, "Are these robots or Sumo wrestlers?"

"At this size do you really think it makes a difference?" Troi replied, "I'm just glad you are here...not that I wanted to get you this involved in my problems."

"You needed me for something," Sakura said, "What was it for, to play co-pilot to a Robot war?"

"No, you're part's a lot more important than that," Troi said, "You're also buying time so that my niece can recover...see?"

Sakura blinked as an image appeared to one side of her cockpit, hovering like a square of light that formed inside her liquid environment, revealing an image of some armored women and four familiar fuku-dressed forms hovering around a stricken Rhea...and there kneeling down to cradle the pointy-eared elf girl in her arms was Muku. Rhea herself seemed motionless and still, but Muku was holding her tightly and seemed relieved about something.

Of course Sakura only absorbed all that in a passing reflection, the main bulk of her attention was drawn to the way Muku was holding the other girl, and there was a trace of moisture on her face that suggested tears were being shed...tears of relief...tears for Rhea, who had quite obviously suffered an injury, most probably in battle. Seeing this affected her in ways that Sakura would not have ordinarily believed, but under the circumstances she felt a surge of overwhelming emotion, emotions that drove way all other reason.

Atros recovered her bearings once again and was preparing another offensive, snarling over their intercom relays, "NOW YOU WILL SUFFER FOR THAT INDIGNITY! MY UNIT WILL CRUSH YOU LIKE A GRAPE!"

This time the energy did not strike them directly but rather came pouring down on them in the form of an energy sphere, a sphere that immediately began to contract around unit Iczer Delta with incredible pressure being exerted, pinning the robot's arms to its sides even as Troi found her own arms being pressed against her sides with rib-cracking pressure. Try as she might Troi could not work free nor find any kind of leverage that she could use to her advantage.

"NOW YOU DIE!" Atros cried, "I AM YOUR DOOM, SISTER, YOUR DEATH-WISH, YOUR OMEGA..."

"Give...me a break!" Troi grunted as she fought to resist the pressure, "You're not the Atros I knew, she was never this brutal or obnoxious! You're just a stupid program override created by a Virus! Gold's the one pulling your strings, not you!"

"Do you honestly think any of that matters?" Atros crowed in a more level tone of voice, "Face it, old timer, you're history and you know it!"

"Old timer?" Troi grunted, "You're calling me an old timer?"

"I'm calling you an obsolete model who needs recycling," Atros snarled, "NOW DIE!"

"That's it!" Troi groaned as she strained against the crushing pressure that was causing some systems to approach the critical zone, "I'm never having any other kids! What the...?"

All at once the pressure began to ease up as systems returned to normal levels and energy output began to peak like crazy, feeding her Iczer Robo with intense waves of emotional power that were unlike anything Troi had ever before measured.

Atros felt unit Delta's resistance level increase as she strained to bring yet more crushing G-force pressure to bear against the enemy unit, only to see Iczer Delta shrug it off like water off a heavy-duty umbrella as power levels went beyond maximum output and reversed the flow of the energy fields all around them.

"HOW-HOW ARE YOU DOING THIS?" Atros stammered in disbelief.

"You got me," Troi glanced reflexively down and said, "Sakura-chan?"

There was no response to her inquiry, for Sakura had zoned out on everything else but the sight of Muku embracing Rhea Kano. Emotions long buried and held dormant through the discipline of a lifetime came crashing to the fore as a rage and longing rose up in her like the mother of all Shi Shi Houkodans. A black wellspring of grief, longing and hate flowed through her being, magnified many times over by the natural transducer ability of the Iczer Robo, turning what would have been a devastating weapon of negative Chi into something much blacker and more innately destructive, shaped like a charged field that surrounded the Delta unit and effortlessly repelled Atros's graviton field as though it had been created by a common household bar magnet.

"Hooboy," Troi said as she felt her own resonance field intensify by the second as Sakura poured out waves of pure emotion the likes of which even she had never previously experienced, feeding her the result of Sakura's mingled jealousy and longing like a raging fire that could not be tamed by anything on the earth or under heaven.

"Sir," a Monitor called out back at Gamora base, "Unit Delta is at level Thirteen!"

"Impossible!" Cobalt replied, "An ordinary human is doing this? How much power can this girl generate?"

"Synchronization levels increasing!" Grey was astounded, "Something is causing them to move closer together...but so much energy...can her unit contain it?"

"We may find out in another minute," Sepia gripped the arms of her chair even though she knew that there was no immediate danger to their own position.

The realization struck Troi that the energy building up around her needed to be released or it would cause a catastrophic overload of her unit, and with only one target to aim that energy in the immediate environment she impulsively cried out, "ATROS! GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE! YOU'RE RIGHT IN THE LINE OF FIRE!"

"NO!" Atros snarled defiantly, "THERE IS ONLY DEATH OR GLORY IN THE SERVICE OF BIG GOLD...I WILL NOT BACK DOWN, NOR WILL YOU DEFEAT ME!"

"YOU IDIOT!" Troi cried in frustration, "YOU'LL BE KILLED IF YOU REMAIN HERE!"

"I DO NOT FEAR DEATH!" Atros declared, "I WAS BROUGHT BACK FROM DEATH BY MY GRANDMOTHER FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF INSURING YOUR DESTRUCTION!"

"SHE DIDN'T MAKE YOU!" Troi countered, "YOU DON'T OWE HER ANYTHING, AND SHE'S NOT YOUR GRANDMOTHER!"

"She is the one who gave me renewed life and a purpose to kill," Atros replied more calmly, "I was made from your essence, it is fitting that we both should die together."

"YOU IDIOT!" Troi snarled once again, "THERE'S NO HONOR IN DEATH, AND YOU DON'T OWE HER A THING! NEOS ISN'T YOUR MOTHER, REMEMBER? SHE'S A THIEF WHO STOLE FROM YOU THE LIFE YOU COULD HAVE HAD! YOU SAID IT YOURSELF BEFORE YOU DIED THE LAST TIME...NAGISA IS YOUR MOTHER!"

"W-What?" Atros reacted, those words cutting through the static of her mental conditioning and awakening dormant memories deeply buried beneath the layers of counter-programming.

Sakura was not waiting around to unleash the force of her pent-up fury. Here before her was an enemy who had been threatening to kill them, and without even consciously knowing what she was doing she let her power flow through the arms of the giant Iczer Delta, forming a ball of energy that she released in a blast that was aimed point-blank at the astonished Atros, who tried her best to erect a shield using all of the reserve energy within her Void-model Iczer.

The blast was unimaginable, detonating on impact with the force shields surrounding Atros's unit, and like the nuclear core of an exploding anti-matter bomb, the positive and negatively charged particles in the two opposing energy streams met and collided, canceling each other out with the resultant energy wave being great enough to go off with the force of a thousand thermonuclear explosions.

For a full three minutes utter holocaust reigned in that portion of Subspace as a field of utter devastation caused the very ground itself to roil and become molten, evaporating to form a crater around the place where the two combatants had been standing, but at length the rising plasma fields began to clear, leaving Iczer Delta standing completely unscathed near the center of ground zero.

As for the enemy Void-amazingly enough-a charred lump of towering armor remained crumpled in the place where it had been standing. The field surrounding Atros had held to the point where Troi could still detect a life sign reading, at which point she sighed and said, "Well...that was sure something..."

"Troi," Cobalt demanded, "What's happening out there? Your Unit is functioning, but what of the enemy?"

"Not to worry on that score, Chief," Troi assured, "The Void got toasted, but Atros still seems to be functioning...barely...what?"

Even as she spoke those words the Void began to stir, and then it started to rise up again, its charred exterior falling away like a snake sloughing off its skin to reveal a new gleaming interior mode, which rose up once more like a phoenix from the ashes.

"No way!" Troi cried as she saw giant Void looming before her.

Sakura did not share Troi's dismay upon seeing her enemy coming back for more punishment...she was too far gone into her battle rage to feel completely satisfied with one single attack. She caused Iczer Delta to raise its hands in a reflexive manner, and suddenly those hands were filled by the shimmering outline of something solid and metallic, then all at once she was holding a bakers peel the size of a small battle cruiser, as long as the Iczer Robo was tall and having a solidity equivalent to the hardest of all known metals.

The enemy Void attempted to mount a new offensive, but Iczer Delta surged forward with an attack as the "Mother of All Spatulas" struck with a horizontal slicing motion that kicked up a sonic boom and whipped up a hurricane in passing. It sliced right through the mid-section waist of the Void, bisecting it cleanly through the middle. As the lower half reacted with an explosion that blew the thing to pieces the upper torso landed heavily on the ground and remained still, this time going completely inactive, though Troi sill detected a life reading coming from the chest.

Without hesitation she teleported from her command cockpit as her Iczer Robo reflexively went dormant, then Troi punched hard at the ruptured plating of the Void and tore it away, heedless of the organic bits that went flying in all directions. She reached down and hauled a figure from the armored interior then held her aloft with both fists, shaking her to be certain the fight really had been driven out of Atros before snarling in her face, "ENOUGH OF THIS! You've had it, young lady, and as of this moment YOU ARE GROUNDED!"

"I...I..." Atros stared wide-eyed and bewildered as if unable to comprehend her own defeat, or her own badly damaged condition.

"Not another word!" Troi glared at her levelly, "I'm taking you home for the Docs to fix up, and then we're going to purge the last traces of the Virus out of you, you hear me? You're NOT going back to her, EVER! Don't even think about giving me any lip...oh hell..." she said as Atros stopped struggling and passed out, becoming a limp doll in all but name function.

"Troi...what's going on?" Grey asked.

"Nothing, Mom," Troi replied, "Ready decontamination protocols, I'm bringing you another one to fix up, and...she's kind of out of it. Gold really did a number on her but...then again...so did I..." she turned and glanced back at the Iczer, "You okay up there, Sakura?"

"I..." Sakura found rationality had returned to her, having expended the last of her battle rage with the defeat of the enemy Void, "I...think so...I'm sorry...I guess...I sort of lost it for a minute there..."

"No fooling," Troi replied, "Only next time do it in your own Iczer Robo. You got one hell of a mean streak there, lady. Remind me never to really get you pissed off."

"Ah...I guess," Sakura said reluctantly, then said, "Will...she be all right?"

"Time will tell," Troi replied, staring at the unconscious Atros with an unreadable expression, "Base, I need a retrieval. Take my unit back to the hangar, we're coming in for a landing."

"Understood," Sepia replied, moments before Iczer Delta-with Sakura in tow-  
phased out of Subspace and returned to Gamora, Troi and Atros just a few microseconds behind them...

"WHOAH!" Tenma called out, seeing what looked like a mushroom cloud rise up over the mountains on their horizon, "Check it out...that's something else!"

Fiber awoke from her healing stasis upon measuring the force of the blast and turned a far less sanguine glance towards the explosion, and then she moved like an uncoiling serpent and snatched Tenma to the ground as she cried out, "GET DOWN!" and reflexively covered the child with her body.

A moment later winds of hurricane force or greater came whipping past their encampment, scouring the landscape with hot plasma that seared the ground for several long seconds, only to fade away as the energy pulse moved on beyond them, leaving Tenma shaken but unhurt while Fiber's own energy shields took the worst of the blast and protected them both from serious harm.

A moment later they both looked up to find a landscape that had been scoured clean in all directions. The illusion of a landscape persisted, but now it was devoid of vegetation and most landmarks that stood higher than a man's head. Gone was any trace of their camp itself, though nothing in said camp was beyond replacement, life being the only thing that truly had any value in Subspace.

"Whoah..." Tenma said again, "What the heck was that?"

"I don't know," Fiber replied, "It had an energy reading unlike anything I've ever recorded in all of my travels...it only lasted a few seconds, but in that time it contained the power to destroy a small planet."

"Guess somebody let loose with a really big Ki burst," Tenma mused, "I haven't seen an explosion like that since my sister caught me sneaking a look at her diary..."

"You...read your sister's personal journal?" Fiber wondered why the sound of that made her feel so...peculiar.

"Yeah, but it was just full of mushy stuff," Tenma shrugged, "Girls can really get weird over stuff, like those pictures she's always drawing about her friend, Muku..."

"Women...do not like young boys invading their privacy," Fiber replied, wondering from where that thought could have originated.

"Oh yeah?" Tenma said, "By the way...thanks for the save. Didn't know that was gonna happen..."

"An explosion of that magnitude always creates a shockwave that spreads far from its place of origin," Fiber noted, "Were this not Subspace but real space the results would have been infinitely more catastrophic..."

"What is this...Subspace you keep talking about?" Tenma asked, "And how exactly does it work?"

"Subspace is a realm that exists outside the bounds of your world, Boy," Fiber answered, "It is a between-realm of virtual existence...composed of elements not manifest in any realm of fixed time and space...it has its own rules, its own limitations, and the imagination is the key to its control. We use it as a means of traveling between our realm and your own, and it also serves as a means for travel between one point and another...almost instantaneously to travel great distances with but a thought. Here the mind is the most potent of all weapons, and the substance around us is malleable...controlled only by the will..."

"You mean like my ability to create stuff just by thinking real hard about it?" Tenma asked.

"Yes," Fiber replied, "But your control of the virtual realm is...most unusual. I have never known a life form before who could interact with the field to the extent that you can."

"Maybe I just have a lot of imagination," Tenma smiled, "And a Martial Artist needs lots of concentration, and learning to do a new technique comes second nature to us Saotomes."

"Somehow...I think that there is more to it than just that," Fiber frowned, "You have a most unusual sensitivity, like it was a part of your genetic nature. I believe that you can interface with this field on a level that most humans would find difficult to manage."

"Well, the thing is that I can do it, right?" Tenma pointed out, "Bet you can do a lot neat stuff here if you set your mind to it, huh?"

"I...can do some things here that are impossible in my own realm," Fiber noted, "As I have said...the only limit is the reach of your imagination."

"Don't you got a good imagination?" Tenma asked, "Bet when you were my age you could do all kinds of neat stuff."

"I...was never your age," Fiber replied, "I was created as I am...I know no other way to live..."

"Well, now's a good time to start learning," Tenma replied, "Pop always says a new day's a new chance to learn a new technique. No sense worrying about stuff that's in the past when you can make a new life for yourself for tomorrow."

"Your father says a lot of things, I've noticed," Fiber observed, "But I can't say if all of them make sense or not from a human perspective."

"Because you're not human?" Tenma asked, "Well, there's nothing wrong with that, is there? You look human enough to me...maybe a little mechanical, and those claws of yours look a little like artificial hands without plastic skin...I think they call them prosthetics...or something like that..."

"Prosthetics?" Fiber stared at her hands, for some reason drawn to them with a strange fascination. She could almost see them change before her eyes, and then real hands appeared in her mind, flesh and bone hands with great sensitivity and feeling...and with that came a sense of something treasured yet lost so long ago...

...Overwhelming loss, a grief that threatened to drown out the stars, unshed tears of remorse as pain became the whole of her universe and her empty being cried out with a need for vengeance...

Fiber broke off that line of thought, momentarily overwhelmed by the vividness of those sensations, of emotions she had never felt before...or things she could not quite remember...

"Are you all right?"

Fiber blinked her eyes, then turned to regard the boy, who was looking at her strangely, as though genuinely concerned about her state of being.

"Yes," Fiber replied, "I am...functioning."

"Good," Tenma smiled in relief, "I thought you might still be needing repairs, but if you're not suffering a relapse..."

"Hmph," Fiber frowned, "And what would you know about my needs? I am...self sufficient in all regards...I need for nothing..."

"Yeah?" Tenma asked, "Like food and water and air and stuff?"

"Yes," Fiber replied, "I can exist without air, and I can go without physical nutrients for a prolonged period of time. At full power I can transverse the stars on my own natural ability..."

"Really?" Tenma inclined his head, "That sounds pretty neat, only...I don't think I'd enjoy going that long without the taste of one of Mom's okonomiyakis."

The boy held up a hand and upon it lay one of those curious wafer-like disks that he liked to consume with a regularity that Fiber had found vaguely amusing.

"You eat too many of those things," Fiber reflexively said, "You'll accumulate an excess of calories, and that could be converted to unnecessary fat accumulations throughout your body."

"You sound like my sister," Tenma sniffed, offering the disk to her, "Here, you wanna try it? It's good and it can make you strong and healthy."

"No food can do that," Fiber replied, eyeing the disk with suspicion, "You must regulate your own caloric intake and burn off the excess with physical exertions..."

"Go ahead and try it anyway," Tenma replied, "You never know...you might like it."

Fiber continued to study the object in the boy's hand as though suspecting it to be loaded with foreign chemical agents, but her nose wrinkled slightly as her olfactory sensors confirmed that it was well within the tolerance level of a human metabolism...or even her own fuel intake system. Without a word she accepted it in her hand, but instead of eating it she studied it as though admiring a fine sculptor.

"Interesting detail," she said, "You make the ingredients so realistic that I can almost make out their chemical composition."

"Uh...yeah," Tenma thought a moment, "But it ain't real, is it? It's only real because I make it seem that way, huh?"

"It is as real as you make it out to be," Fiber replied, "With enough concentration it can be very real...and objects in which you invest enough energy will have a lasting power all their own. Virtual matter can become real matter if you convince the object that you create that it exists without your personal maintenance."

"Ah," Tenma scratched the back of his head and said, "Does...that mean what I think it does? Because...I was wondering...if the stuff I create here isn't real, then if I leave this place all the okonomiyaki I ate won't just...y'know...vanish on me...will it?"

"You don't even need to eat while you're here in Subspace," Fiber revealed.

"Huh?" Tenma blinked, "I don't?"

"Matter, energy, time and even space itself are but products of the mind and how you perceive the reality that surrounds you," Fiber explained, "Objects can be made so real that they will endure long after you create them, and once they become a part of your body they are maintained by your belief in their substance."

"Oh," Tenma thought about it a moment then said, "Neat!"

"Useful," Fiber replied, "Especially if you are in need of self-repair, as I am."

"Not up yet to one hundred percent, huh?" Tenma mused.

"More like...sixty-eight-point-two percent, and rising," Fiber noted with the last bit as an afterthought.

"Well," Tenma glanced around, "Guess that means we'd better do something about our camp, it looks like a real mess after that blast blew through here."

"Mere objects can be replaced and repaired," Fiber replied, "But if you experience death on this plane it can be as real as anywhere else...and all the belief you have will not save you from the reality of termination."

"Guess it's kind of like your belief runs smack against the other guy, huh?" Tenma mused, "Like my Karma gets run over by your dogma...or something like that."

"What?" Fiber blinked.

"Something I heard my Mom say once," Tenma shrugged, "I didn't understand it either."

"Oh," Fiber replied, staring at the boy as a strange sensation came over her, and for a moment it was as if she saw another child from some other time and place smiling back at her. The sensation left as quickly as it came, so ephemeral that she was left to wonder if it has been real at all, and why such thoughts filled her again with a strange, inexplicable sadness.

"Well," Tenma yawned, "Once we get this place back to normal, I think I'll turn in and get some rest...I feel exhausted."

"Your body is not really tired," Fiber replied, "But the use of your concentration to create matter is giving you the sensation of exhaustion. You are human...and you do have some limits. If you wished, you could stay awake indefinitely...but there might be adverse physical consequences, such as the exhaustion of vital neural chemicals in their proper balance..."

"Yeah, whatever," Tenma shrugged, "I just know that sleeping always helps me to think better in the morning. You've given me a lot to think about, lady, and I'd like to rest on it a bit, then we can see about getting you better in the morning.""

"Morning?" Fiber replied, "Haven't you understood a word I have said? There is no morning or evening in Subspace...or time itself, other than what our minds create for us in sequential, causal existence."

"In other words Time's as real as you think it is, huh?" Tenma glanced over his shoulder with a boyish grin, "Well, to me twenty-four hours makes a day, and a day's got a night to balance it out, and I like to sleep at night and rise fresh and early in the morning, so...if I think it's real, what difference does it make?"

Fiber sat there stunned, amazed at hearing her own logic turned around to such an effective manner. This boy was incredibly quick witted and adaptable for an example of the human species, and yet for all that he kept getting the better of their...conversations...she found it increasingly hard to resent him for this.

"Indeed," she said at last, "Then...if thinking that way gives you comfort, you should comply with your instincts."

"That always works for the best," Tenma replied, "Something else Pop taught me."

Fiber nodded slowly, "A very wise man, this father of yours..."

"Wouldn't know that to talk to Mom," the boy chuckled, "Why don't you get some more sleep, lady? It seems to be helping you out."

"I...do not feel tired," Fiber said, "And I have...much thinking to do. You have given me cause to reflect on some of my baseline assumptions."

"Guess that means you can learn new stuff, huh?" he smiled, and to that Fiber could only stare, wondering why she did not gut the boy for his flippancy, and why looking on him made her feel...something strange...almost familiar...

She wondered if she were malfunctioning on a level that had nothing to do with her physical state of being, or if these strange emotions that were starting to make themselves known might be an effect of a prolonged stay in Subspace. After all, things here were only as real as you imagined them to be, but there were a lot of things that one could conjure up from their imagination...and who knew what a malfunctioning Bioroid on the run from her own people might conjure up in the night...some personal demon far worse than any Venomoid? She had to wonder, and in reflecting on that thought she became like a statue, or like a Marionette left to sit on a shelf, like a doll made for the amusement of children...a doll whose strings had been cut...who would never rise again to amuse anyone...to never again hear the laughter and receive the awe of children...

...Pain so vast it could eclipse the stars...loss so overwhelming that her tears would drown a planet...

Again she forced her mind away from the abyss that threatened to engulf her, shaken and confused at feeling such things, such strange emotions...sensations...memories that could not have been, of a time before Neos had shaped her into what she was...but...how could such a thing be? Was she actually something more than just Neos Gold's creation? Was there more to her than she had ever previously imagined...?

She did not know...nor did she want to know, but as she put a hand to her face to steady herself she once again saw her hand transform into something flesh and blood...and the warmth of blood in her fingers made her pause to reflect on the reality of what could be nothing more than an illusion. Was this phantom the reality, and why was she remembering this now? This could not be real, it had to be a trick, some product of the boy's meddlesome prattle about his father and mother...about the things they had taught him, about the fantasy shows that he confused with reality...and...and something more to which she could not even put a name.

It frightened her...and the mere thought that she could be frightened by anything chilled her synthetic frame like the cold of space never could. The boy was responsible for this, he had to be doing something to her mind that was causing her to experience things that could not be real. She glanced over to see the boy laying down to rest, having expended the last of his energy in fixing up their camp to what it had been before the explosion. Soon after he lay down she saw his breathing grow steady as he drifted off to a restful state, in which condition he would be helpless and at her mercy, utterly unable to focus or draw on his strange powers to protect himself.

Easy prey to one such as herself...all she had to do was wait...and then she could be rid of the annoying brat and his endless stream of foolish questions.

Again she stared at her hand, seeing the clawed prosthetics that once more had replaced slender fingers of ordinary flesh. It had to have been an illusion...it could not have been real, she had to be imagining things, or suffering a residual effect caused by the extensive damages that had been rendered to her body. This hand was meant as nothing more than a weapon...it could not caress, it could never create...

And yet she let it fall to her side uselessly...aware that there was something happening to her for which she had no explanation. The boy was the key to a mystery that she knew needed solving...she could not do away with him so long as she was in doubt about her own origins.

("Pop always says not to worry about stuff you can't do anything about...worry about the stuff you can change...like making a new tomorrow...")

Ridiculous! The rantings of a mere child, nothing more...and his father...what a font of wisdom to live in a restaurant doing nothing but teach fighting to mere humans...when a warrior of his stature could be a King in his own right...

And yet...those words...some part of her responded to them as though they corresponded to a dream...she who had never dreamed before, to whom dreams could have no meaning save for the plunder and glory of Neos...

And Neos had betrayed her, abandoned her, cast her off as worthless, as much as said that she was never more important than a mere tool...and in this realization Fiber felt a slight shudder that had nothing to do with physical temperature...and had everything to do with her thoughts about the future...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/C'thuwulf Child Custody Battles: shadowmane

The gang takes stock of their recent troubles and new resolutions are drawn as Muku and Rhea have a talk about their "partnership" in, "Hot Springs Therapy," or "Onasen ne Night." Be There!

X -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	18. Chapter 18

Earthchild18

The Earthchild

(An Iczer/Ranma Crossover)

by Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi &amp; Others)

Chapter Eighteen.

HENTAI ALERT, YOU ARE ENTERING THE LIME ZONE!  
CONTAINS SCENES OF A CONSENSUAL NATURE TOO NAUGHTY TO BE EXPOSED TO IMPRESSIONABLE MINORS AND THOSE WHOSE LIBIDO IS COMPARABLE TO HAPPOSAI.  
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

"Hello, Mom? It's me..."

No sooner were those words out of Muku's mouth when she had to recoil from the anticipated, "WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU, YOUNG LADY? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT TIME IT IS?" reaction that was all too typical of her mother.

"Ah...yeah, about that, Mom," Muku winced, "There was a little...accident...well, actually, a friend of mine got hurt in a fight and I...had to take her home, and...well...it got late and...well...is it all right if I stay over at her place tonight? I promise I'll be back in the morning..."

"You are aware that it's a school day, are you not, young lady?" her mother sternly asked, to which Muku could only sheepishly reply in a standard-if not entirely reassuring-manner.

"Oh yeah...don't worry, I promise I'll do my homework and everything, Mom," Muku made a placating gesture, "But...you know how these fights are...guys spring up and attack you out of no where and hardly take the time for proper introductions..."

Oddly enough, her mother seemed to visibly relax at that as she stared at the viewscreen and said, "Well...I suppose that's true enough...but I wish you'd have called earlier. Your father and I have been worried sick about you..."

"Just as long as you weren't hurt, Muku-chan," her father said as he eased his way into the Vid Camera eye-scope, "Was your friend hurt bad?"

"Pretty bad," Muku winced, "But...she's recovering just fine...kind of reminds me of Sakura the way she heals back when she gets hurt, know what I mean?"

"Oh yeah," her mother sniffed, "I've got a pretty good idea of what that's like..."

"Saotome healing prowess," her father remarked, "If we could bottle and sell it we'd easily make a fortune."

"Yeah, just about," Muku said, "Is it all right, then, if I spend the night here?"

"Well..." her mother exchanged looks with her father, tacitly leaving it to him to say, "You just take care of your friend and come back when she's better, Muku-chan. We'll be waiting to hear all the details when you get home after school."

"Thanks Dad," Muku smiled, "Mom...you're the greatest. Bye now."

Muku sighed as she broke the connection, then turned to Sister Saffron, who obligingly canceled the holographic illusion of a house in the background, allowing Muku to turn and see Rhea, once gain floating naked in her regeneration chamber. Rhea was looking back at her with an apologetic expression, and then she formed the words that were somehow transmitted through the breathable fluid and transparent cylinder that contained her, "I'm sorry to put you to so much trouble, Muku-chan. I know you hate deceiving your parents..."

"Hey, I didn't lie to them," Muku shrugged as she placed a hand against the wall of the tube, only to see Rhea place her own hand just opposite it as though to symbolically share the gesture, "I just don't think they're ready to know all about...this. What about you...feeling better?"

"Oh yes," Rhea replied, "I am almost ninety-eight percent recovered, thanks to your friends and their healing abilities. I am amazed to learn that they are so talented as all that..."

"Yeah, well..." Muku smiled lopsidedly and said, "I've known them for a number of years, since we were kids in fact, but it was a couple years back I found out something really strange about them, like the fact that their parents were the Sailor Senshi. It's...kind of a long story how their folks and mine met..."

"You don't have to tell me in words," Rhea closed her eyes and floated for a moment, then opened them again and said, "Your memories are fully accessible to me...such interesting people you know...and all of them attend the same high school?"

"Yeah...well...strange stuff seems to happen around Nerima," Muku shrugged as she studied the all-too-human form of her Bioroid companion, marveling at how beautiful she was in the all together...right up until she saw Rhea's knowing smile and realized that her friend was reading her thoughts again and responding with open affection. Muku forced her eyes away as her cheeks began to color, and then she added, "Of course Rini...that's short for Serenity. We used to call her Chibi Usa when she was little...she lives in the Jubaan area, the same place where Yui's Mom runs a shrine that used to belong to her grandfather. We also like to call her 'The Princess' because her mother is supposed to be the Empress of the Moon, or something like that..."

"I should like to meet her mother, and to learn more about these people who once lived in their Moon Kingdom," Rhea noted, "They sound as though they might have been another lost colony of my people with their reliance on women soldiers and their command of psionically enhancing crystals."

"Ah...never thought of it like that," Muku mused, "So...you think there might be some relationship between you guys and Rini's people?"

"Difficult to say without more research," said Sister Saffron at her monitoring station, "We have encountered many references to the Moon Kingdom during our inhabitation of this colony, and if they are a power that once held sway in this star system, then it would be to our advantage to seek friendly ties with any remnants of their civilization."

"By the way," Rhea asked, "Where are your friends? I should like to thank them in person for saving my life."

"Ah...good question," Muku glanced around, "They were here waiting in the lobby...but I guess they got bored and wandered off to explore this place. It can be pretty intimidating the first time here...and the second time too," she added with a sheepish expression.

Sister Turquoise-another C'thuwulf attendant who was on duty, reported, "Your friends asked if there were any place where they could comfortably relax while waiting for Rhea-chan to recover, so we directed them to the Onsen where you went bathing with Nagisa."

"Oh, that place?" Muku said, "I think I know where that is. Maybe I'll go there when Rhea gets done fixing herself up..."

"I am ready to accompany you now, Muku-chan," Rhea replied as the fluids in her regeneration chamber started to flush out, leaving her to stand naked as some overhead gismos dried off her fully recovered body, even leaving her hair as lustrous and shiny as ever Muku had seen it. A moment later Rhea stepped from the chamber and smiled at her, obviously relishing the way Muku's eyes drank in the nakedness of her body. Then Rhea closed her eyes for a moment and soon her form began to shiver as her armor once again covered her body. She took Muku's unresisting hand and squeezed it with affection, then leaned forward and gave Muku another kiss on her cheek, only to turn and plant the next one on her lips as Muku held her ground and reacted with a wide-eyed response that was entirely instinctive.

"Thank you for worrying about me," Rhea said as their lips parted from that kiss, and then the Bioroid drew Muku along with her as she led the way from the laboratory and out into the hallway...

"Oh man...this place is something else!" Yumi groaned as she stretched her naked body, which was submerged within the warm mineral waters of the hot spring.

"You said it," Yui noted pleasantly as she allowed herself to soak with a rare, untroubled expression, "These Aliens do know how to live and to treat their guests, I'll give them that much..."

"I could spend all night here," the pink-haired Rini grinned as she leaned back and allowed herself to be carried on the water, floating in absolute comfort, "This is way better than the baths they have back in Jubaan, I feel as pampered as a Princess!"

"And what about you, Sakura-chan?" Yumi asked as she glanced at the forth member of their little group, "Cabbit got your tongue or something? You look like you forgot the recipe to your favorite dish of okonomiyaki."

"Eh?" Sakura looked up, then glanced down again with an unusually thoughtful expression, "It's...nothing...I was just wondering about Troi..."

"Troi?" Rini asked with the raising of a pink eyebrow.

"One of the Aliens who live here," Yui replied, "She looks like an elf but has the manners of a Moroboshi."

"Surely not that bad!" Rini winced, unconsciously covering over her breasts as she straightened out in the water.

"Oh relax," Yumi chuckled, "Troi may be a character, but she's pretty cool. Seemed to take a real shine to you, Sakura-chan...is that why you arrived here with her in the belly of that robot?"

"It's not like that," Sakura said defensively, coloring slightly, "Well...not exactly...but...you know that woman who attacked us?"

"That maniac who blew up a part of the mall?" Yui asked.

"She blew up a MALL?" Rini started, "That's criminal! Is it one of those I liked to go to?"

"Afraid so," Yumi replied, "We were in Pierre's dress shop when this armored chick attacked us...only three other armored ladies showed up and gave us time to clear out of there before it went up like a torch..."

"She did that to PIERRE'S?" Rini made a fist and splashed it against the water, "How dare she? For doing that she deserves the righteous vengeance of the heavens!"

"Why don't you all put a sock on it?" Sakura grunted, "There are a lot more important things in the world than the loss of one dress shop...such as the lives that could have been lost or ruined in the battle."

All three of her friends blinked their eyes as they looked at her, then Yui asked, "What brought this on? Was there someone you know who got injured by the explosion?"

"No," Sakura sighed, "But Troi found out that the one we were fighting was none other than her daughter."

There was a momentary pause, then a collective, "WHAAAT?" from all three of her companions.

"You've gotta be kidding!" Yumi said after another brief pause, "That crazy chick was Troi's DAUGHTER?"

"Hey, it came as much of a surprise to her as to anybody," Sakura paused before continuing, "I...sort of got mixed up in their fight, and...I kind of lost it back there and put her kid in the medical ward..."

"Wait a minute," Rini said, "This Troi...she's like Rhea, right?"

"Her Aunt as a matter of fact," Yui noted.

"But...I thought they were supposed to be some kind of android," Rini continued, "How can she have a daughter?"

"You're asking me to explain that?" Yumi asked, "What about you, Sakura...how did you get mixed up with Troi's business anyway?"

"That's none of your business," Sakura said indifferently, earning a raised eyebrow look from all three of her companions.

"Hello now," a cheerful voice called out, "Any objections from you young people if a few of us old timers take a soak with you?"

"Who?" Yui started to turn around when her mouth hung open.

"Who are you guys?" Rini asked as she stared at three beautiful women who looked to be in their mid-twenties.

"We met before," said the tall blonde, who looked far more imposing than her towel-wrapped colleagues, "When we brought you to this place."

"We're three members of the Iczelion Corps," said a lanky girl with long brown hair and a cheerful smile that gave her face and warm and friendly demeanor.

"The elite human soldiers who jointly defend the Earth and the C'thuwulf people," a perky girl whose hair was a slightly more violet shade of pink than Rini's replied in a cocky manner, "I'm Ijima Kiiro, the Gold Iczelion."

"Kawaii Kawai," the brown haired girl added, "Silver Iczelion."

"Shiina Nami," the blonde concluded, "Black Iczelion, at your service."

"You guys are those armored knights who brought us here?" Yumi blinked, "Cool! You look almost like rock stars!"

"More than that," Yui said in a curiously disturbed tone of voice, "You're Kiiro...the Idol singer! I have all of your albums on cube back home!"

"So you're the one who's been buying them up?" Kiiro smiled, "Actually, I've been thinking about retiring and going into acting. I've had several very tempting offers..."

"So have I," Nami mused, "But an Exotic dancer is used to receiving all sorts of interesting invitations."

"You're an Exotic dancer?" Rini asked.

"One of the best," Nami nodded to the side, "While Kawai here has a real job in the Technical department. We're all three from Earth, just like you, but we live among the C'thuwulf like sisters..."

"Most Iczelions are C'thuwulf soldiers," Kawai cheerfully added, "But we were selected from among the human populace because of our unique abilities to bond with our Iczelion armor."

"Now, if introductions are done here," Kiiro said as she removed her towel and sat down on a bench to wash herself off, "Nami-chan, would you mind washing my back for me? I'd ask Kawai, but she usually likes to start on my front end..."

"But that's the way you always like it," Kawai added all the more sweetly.

"I'll leave you two sex-maniacs to handle it yourselves," Nami sniffed, undoing her towel as if totally unselfconscious about her body, "I just came here to soak, and that's what I intend on doing. That fight put a strain on all of us, and I-for one-do not mean to wait around for it."

Without preamble the tall blonde stepped into the pool without pausing to scrub herself off, earning a wrathful look from Kiiro.

"Hey, don't wade in without scrubbing!" she covered her face with a hand when Nami returned a one-finger gesture, "That girl has no manners whatsoever..."

"Let's not worry about her for once, Kiiro-chan," Kawaii touched her bare shoulder with a hand, having already removed her own bath towel, "Let's you and I set a better example for these younger people."

"Good point," Kiiro grinned back, "You're only young once, C'thuwulf longevity prolonging techniques notwithstanding..."

"So," Nami said as she moved closer to Sakura, "You're the young woman who bonded with Troi in a temporary arrangement? I hear you commandeered control over her Iczer Robo and took out an enemy Void by yourself...quite impressive for a Rookie."

"Huh?" Yumi blinked, "You did all that, Sakura?"

"I...was acting pretty much on instinct," Sakura colored again, "It wasn't quite like I was trying to run the show..."

"Why not?" Yui asked, "You're a Saotome, why break from tradition?"

"It is very rare for an amateur to bond with an Iczer, even one with Troi's rather flexible nature," Nami noted, "To achieve momentary Synchronization while overriding her commands to Iczer Delta makes you an exceptional player. Only rarely has anyone even come close to duplicating your feat, and Nagisa was the one both times to achieve this."

"Who's Nagisa?" Rini asked.

"Rhea's mother...I think," Yumi replied, "You'd have to ask Muku, she knows a lot more about it."

Sakura frowned at that and glared sullenly away, only to turn her head with a start as she heard a sound like a moan coming from the benches.

Kawai was rubbing her hands over the lavender-haired girl's body, only her hands were not confined to just the back area and were-in fact-sliding around to cup and fondle the Idol singer's breasts, giving them an affectionate massage that quite obviously earned a heartfelt groan of approval from Kiiro.

"What the heck...?" Rini asked.

"You'll have to forgive them," Nami mused, "Kiiro and Kawaii have been partners for a number of years now...they often have difficulty keeping their hands off each other when they share quality time together."

"You mean...they're...?" Yui hesitated.

"If you asked them they will both assure you that they are straight," Nami replied, "And they each have had a string of boyfriends to prove this fact, but...none of their relationships outside our little group have proven to be too lasting. Not even the time when Kiiro was dating that charming Prince Petregius, who is still rather sweet on her, I hear..."

"But they still screw each other, don't they?" Yumi concluded.

"Oh yes," Nami smiled, "Several times a day when we're all together. By the way...I thought that there was another girl just like you when we brought you here...what happened to her?"

"Oh?" Yui looked sheepish, " Ah...well...there's...kind of a funny story about that..."

"She got it from her mother," Yumi explained, "Who got it trying to help her father find a cure for his condition. They met close to twenty years ago when her father stumbled onto her mother's shrine and got involved in a fight against some Youma. After he saved her life...or was it the other way around? Well, they pretty much became inseparable...and then she learned about his curse..."

"Hey!" Yui protested, "It's my story, I should be the one to tell it, big mouth."

"Let's just say that there is more to Yui than you meet on the surface," Rini noted, "Which pretty much holds true for the rest of us as well..."

"Hey, you're all here, guys?"

Heads swerved to see Muku approaching in the company of Rhea. Sakura's eyes widened then narrowed quite sharply, and had she sported ears like a cat they most likely would have flattened.

"Muku-chan!" Yumi grinned, "I and I see sleeping beauty is back in the land of the living. Bet you feel like celebrating over that!"

She pointedly ignored the deadly glances that she received from both Sakura and Yui, but Muku did notice them this time and felt more than a little bit sheepish, comprehending now one element of their lifelong rivalry and what both girls secretly felt when they saw her standing there holding hands with Rhea. She attempted a smile but it was weak and facile, knowing instinctively that this was one problem that could not be solved through easy arbitration.

"You are looking better, Rhea-chan," Nami noted, "Come join us in a good soak, I'm sure your partner could certainly use it."

"What a wonderful suggestion, Aunt Nami," Rhea said, turning a hopeful look Muku's way, "Do you want to take a swim in the holy waters, Muku-chan? They are invigorating and have many curative properties..."

"Ah..." Muku was tempted, finding the idea of a hot bath more than tempting, but the suddenly nervous looks that she got from at least two of her friends made her feel that it would be adding fuel to an already raging fire if she flirted with Rhea in such an obvious manner, so instead she sighed and answered, "Maybe later...it would be nice to take a bath before getting some sleep, but...I'm a little too tired to think about it right now. Maybe in the morning before going to school..."

She paused as the sound of heavy, muffled groaning came from the other end of the bathing grotto, and as Muku turned to look she saw two women laying on the tiled floor besides the baths with one girl straddling the other while their legs were twined together, both fondling the other's breasts while their mouths were locked together, completely oblivious to everything else that was going on about them.

Rhea noticed her shift in attention and followed her stare, then relaxed and said, "Oh, that's just Aunt Kiiro and Aunt Kawai scrubbing each other up before taking a bath together."

"Scrubbing?" Yumi asked blandly.

"I don't see either one of them so much as touching a soap bar," Yui grunted.

"Sex fiends," Nami sighed, then lifted her voice and said, "All right you two, that's enough of a show for now! You're shocking the children and making them think we all lack manners."

"Spoilsport!" Kiiro declared when she and Kawai broke off on their kissing.

"Just because you don't have a partner of your own right now is no reason to play the spoiler!" Kawai cheerfully noted.

"I could have a partner any time I wanted one," Nami insisted, "And I could have the both of you for a midnight snack, but there's a time and place for everything, and right now you're shocking the tourists."

"Honestly, we're just making out," Kiiro insisted.

"What's so shocking about that?" Kawai reasoned.

Rhea turned back to Muku and said, "If you would like to rest, then I'll show you to your room, Muku-chan, and...in the morning, if you'd like...we can bathe together and I can scrub your back for you, if you'd like."

"Scrub her back?" Sakura repeated with a shocked expression.

"Like that?" Yui silently indicated the pair-who had gone right back to fondling and kissing one another, to which Yui mumbled under her breath, "Not on your life..."

"Ah..." Muku rubbed the back of her head nervously and said, "I think...I'd rather just rest for now...and maybe think about doing that in the morning, if it's okay with you."

"It is," Rhea replied, once more taking Muku by the hand and drew her away from the bathing grotto, all the while seemingly oblivious to the murderous looks being turned on her by a seething Yui and a smoldering Sakura.

Nami seemed to notice this, however, and a sly smile crossed her sensuous lips as a naughty plan occurred to her then and there. She touched a spot on the bracelet that she was wearing and fed a thought impulse into the band that was relayed through central, and a moment later a number of attendants arrived dressed in towels and nothing but, smiling in approval as they saw the new faces at the Onsen.

"How do you do?" the leader of this group of three as they reported in, "I am Sister Pink, and these are my attendants, Trout and Salmon. How can we be of service?"

"Ah yes," Nami straightened up and moved closer to the pink-haired Rini, "I require a masseuse right now. A good soak loosens tired muscles, but there is nothing like an all-over body rub down to invigorate a tired body, don't you agree, Princess?"

"Eh?" Rini blinked, "Well...I suppose that does make sense...and I am starting to feel a bit like an overcooked lobster..."

"Oh, we are very proficient in the art of sensual massage," Pink noted, "Come over here and lay down on these benches and we will give you what you require, courtesy of the house."

"Excellent," Nami looked innocently at the others and said, "Who else here would like a massage. These attendants are very good, I assure you, and you'll feel a whole lot better about yourselves in the morning."

"Really?" Yumi brightened, "I'd love to try that!"

"I...suppose it might be worth it," Yui reluctantly conceded, "My mother gives my father many massages that seem to tame the savage fires within his breast..."

"Is that a fancy way of saying she screws him?" Sakura sniffed, "I'll pass. I think I'm just going to soak her for a while longer..."

"Are you sure?" Nami asked, "After all, you're the conquering heroine of the hour. The least that you could do is allow these attendants to honor you in a manner appropriate to one of your heroism."

"Really, I didn't do anything that exceptional..." Sakura assured, only to give a start as Yumi took her by the hand and started to drag her from the tub and towards the patio where awaited the benches.

"Just say yes and go along with it, okonomiyaki-breath," Yumi teased, "Honestly, it's like you were afraid of showing us your body or something, and you've got a real killer figure."

"But...hey!" Sakura weakly protested as she was all but dragged out of the hot tub.

Moments later found the four Earth girls laid out on near-identical stone benches while three of the attendants set to work rubbing in soothing oils and lotions which had been provided for just such a purpose. Nami stood poised over Rini, who had a somewhat dubious expression over the idea of been attended to by a older woman (although in physical appearance Nami did not seem THAT much older).

"I thought you were the one who wanted a backrub?" Rini asked as Nami began to lay hands to her shoulders, and then the pink haired girl began to sigh and relax, finding those hands very sensitive and firm against her body.

"I can wait my turn," Nami said with a ominously pleasant expression, "You rub my back and I'll rub yours, fair enough?"

"Isn't that what your two friends were saying a moment ago?" Yui began to notice, only to sigh as Trout started massaging her back, to which she groaned, "Oh...that does feel so good..."

"You guys are professionals at this, right?" Sakura asked as she found herself going limp and seriously enjoying those feminine hands that was working their way against her back.

"Actually this is something of a side-duty for us," Pink revealed.

"Normally we work as technicians in the Biometrics department," Salmon explained as she worked her hands against an altogether cooperative Yumi, "We maintain regeneration facilities and things like that, fairly tedious work...but we enjoy the side benefits, and our knowledge of anatomy helps us to find those places most in need of loving attention."

"I'll say..." Yumi rolled her eyes and gave a sigh of utter approval, not even minding when-a few minutes later-those hands began to work over areas not normally considered within the province of a masseuse.

Rini had gone limp and was moaning as Nami gave her the treatment, but soon she realized that she was growing excited and said, "Um...is this...a part of the massage process...?"

"It most certainly is," Nami replied, "Just put yourself in my hands, Princess, and you'll be feeling better all over in another minute."

"Hey!" Yui protested, "Don't go down there...those are my buttocks you're-  
OOOHHH!"

"Hey yourself," Trout leered, "It's you obvious carry a lot of stress about your hips, like the weight of the world is on your shoulders... but this technique will give you a spring in your step that will make you feel much, much lighter, I guarantee that."

"I like my stride...as springy as it is...OOOH!" Sakura arched her back and said, "W-What are you doing down there...hey, quit that!"

"Don't struggle, just relax," Pink urged, "This is for your own good, and it will help you relieve so much of your excess tension."

"Oh yeah!" Yumi groaned, "I can feel the tension flowing right out of me! You do that soooo nice!"

"Why thank you," Salmon smiled, "I'm so glad that you approve...I am told that I am quite proficient at this particular nerve massage technique."

"Ooooh...stop...oh Kami...oh STOP!" Rini gasped, only to reverse herself a moment later with an, "No-don't stop! Oh yeah...oh yeah...oh yeah...!"

"I told you that this would work for you, Princess," Nami said a bit hoarsely, enjoying running her hands over the tender, supple and YOUNG flesh of the pink haired Moon princess, who by now was quite beyond the point of active refusal.

"OH-GAH-MY-GODDESS!" Yui cried out, feeling her pulse race as her nerves were on fire and her body sang to a tune that could not be denied. When Trout lifted her hips with both hands and began to bring her mouth into play there was no mistaking the fact that this was no simple rub down but a love-play in which another girl was using her lips to tease Yui's throbbing clitoris. A moment later and a tongue was applied to a moistening slit, and then Trout latched onto the other girl's snatch and began to rim her tongue around the opening, then plunge in for the honey.

"Th-th-this is a massage?" Sakura gasped as she clenched her hands against the stone bench and felt her own loins being attended to by a skillful attendant.

"Oh yes," Pink said between tongue-flicks, "A full-bodied massage, C'thuwulf style. It does wonders to clear out blocked channels and restore the body to full health through vital stimulation."

"Won't hear any-OOOOOOHHH-complaints-AAHHH-out of me!" Yumi gasped, "Oh yeah...keep doing that, PLEASE!"

"My pleasure," Salmon replied between the sounds of some heavy-duty slurping.

(My Goddess!) Sakura thought to herself as her body tensed with an impending climax, (Are they all like Troi here?) The mere thought of her nominal partner made her wonder where Troi was and what she was up to, and-more importantly-how she was contending with the discovery of incipient parenthood with a daughter who hated her and was programmed to kill by some inhuman computer virus who doubtlessly was laughing up its sleeve at the lives whose pattern it was so callously disrupting...

"Here," Sister Grey handed a mug full of hot brew to a weary-looking Troi, who reluctantly accepted it but did not drink, choosing instead to stare at the rising trails of steam that flowed above it, sitting as she was at the base of a regeneration cubicle with her back against the cylinder that she normally would use for her rest cycle.

"You know," Grey mused, "It is the second law of thermodynamics which dictates that hot objects, when left to themselves, grow cold through heat defusion...and if you wait long enough, that will fall to room constant..."

"I know, Mom," Troi said with an unusual lack of enthusiasm, "I'm just not very hungry right now..."

"Are you sure about that?" Grey asked, "It has been at least twelve hours since your last regeneration cycle."

"So?"

"Your original design is much like that of your sister's," Grey noted, "My contribution notwithstanding. You need a rest cycle as much as you need occasional nutrients, and the longer you go without them the more your natural healing factor will weaken."

"Yeah...well...I'm doing just fine as it is," Troi said, "And besides...I want to know what progress you're making with...her."

Troi turned to the isolation chamber, in which an inactive Atros presently occupied a separate regeneration cubicle.

"Well...our decontamination procedures appear to be working," Grey noted, "We've isolated and removed the Venomoid seed that was hidden within her body, and we've flushed out all trace of suspicious chemical additives not consistent with your own Bioroid matrix. Physically she is about seventy-eight percent of normal operating function, but inside..."

"Yeah...inside, where it really counts," Troi said, "How much of her is still the same Atros that I remember?"

"Surprisingly, quite a lot," Grey replied, "But the main part of her mind is occupied by Big Gold's personality imprint...the good news is that there has been a pattern degrade to that portion caused by the reassertion of her original personality. Something you either said or did back there in the fight has caused her to reject the overlay, and that means the Atros you know could be making a comeback."

"You think so?" Troi looked up at her biological mother with some hope in her golden eyes, only to glance down again as she said, "But what happens if she does come back to us...to me? I mean...I'm too young to be a mother...and a kid like this, who looks like a cross between me and Nagisa..."

"There are bound to be awkward moments," Grey said with a hint of irony in her voice, "Comes with the job of being a mother."

"Huh?" Troi asked, then she caught her mother's look and said, "Oh yeah...you think this is Karma for me or something? Well..."

"I didn't say that you were being punished, Child," Grey smiled, "But it is rather interesting to see you taking something seriously for once. You're usually so very casual about life one might have trouble knowing the real depths to you, as I do."

"Aw...Mom," Troi found herself smiling in irony, so she stood up and took a sip from the mug that turned into a full swallow, and then she handed the empty cup back to her creator and said, "Guess maybe it's time I find out what I've been putting you through all these years. If we can bring Atros back onto our side...it's gonna be a whole new ball game, and that spells curtains for Gold and the rest of her cruddy empire."

"I think you will find that motherhood has its warm moments that go with the times of tension and anxiety, Child," Grey counseled sagely, "My advice to you is to have patience and fortitude...for even if we do cure her of Gold's evil, that does not mean the fight is entirely over."

Troi studied the Chief Scientists face and said, "You've got some kind of a plan, right? I can tell by that look that you're thinking up something that could tilt things in our favor."

"Perhaps," Grey noted, "As you said, the true battle over Atros is not an external one but rather an internal fight between a relentless evil and a child who barely even knows her name, let alone the place she comes from...inside herself."

"You mean...she's lost and alone in there and doesn't have a clue how to fight back," Troi said, gathering the gist of what her mother was saying, "Which means she needs a friend more than ever, huh?"

"Or a guardian angel." Grey replied with a meaningful expression, "Listen to me carefully, Troi...I have always been very proud of you, for all that you sometimes cause Two and One no end of grief. You are my child...the little girl I never had time to have on my own through a partner. That means that I value you and your welfare above all else, and what I have to ask I would not venture if the matter were not as dire as it is. Besides...I think you want to do something useful to help, and this is what I have to offer."

"I think I follow you, Mom," Troi nodded, "But you're saying that there's some kind of risk involved if we do this, right?"

"We could lose both of you," Grey said with a grave expression, "The evil that is Gold's virus might infect you both and turn you into another one of her minions."

"Me lose out to that Virus?" Troi made a fist, "HAH! That'll be the day! But if it's what it takes to get Atros back on our side...and to be finally rid of whatever crap she's been filling my kid's head with...I'll do whatever it takes, I swear it!"

"Good," Grey nodded, "With Rhea recovered to full strength I think we can spare having you on standby for a while...but it would be nice if we could contact your sisters..."

"Ah...well...they're...gonna be busy for a while now," Troi said evasively, "I know Nagisa and Sayoko have been planning something for a while, and...well...I don't intrude into their business, you know what I mean?"

"I...think that I do," Grey nodded sagely, "A wise woman would never try to interfere with any plans cooked up by those two, and if what you suspect is certain...then I think One and Two will be very busy come the morning."

"Come is the operating word here," Troi smiled, turning back to the isolation chamber, "Only one thing worries me about this plan of yours...the way I caught Atros wasn't as tough as it should have been if Gold was really intent on keeping her. Makes you wonder if maybe this is one of those fake victories that seems like a charmer but turns into a turkey..."

"You mean a Pyrrhic victory," Grey corrected, "Named for an ancient Earth battle in which an army won but ultimately lost the war. Yes, I quite agree...it is in keeping with Gold's perversity that she might let us think that we have won something valuable when, in fact, we are being set up for something nasty. It would be nice to say that I have anticipated every contingency that she has planned for us, but as brilliant as I may seem at times, to think like her one would have to have a mind like a virus."

"Talk about the cure being worse than the illness," Troi winced, then sighed, "Let's do this...for Atros's sake...for the mind of my daughter..."

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Club Med C'thuwulf Style: shadowmane

As the gang enjoys some "C'thuwulf Hospitality," Troi does battle with the Gold Virus while Rhea shows Muku to her bedroom...but where will our intrepid skater be sleeping away her evenings? Stay tuned for: "Perilous Sieges," or "The House of the Naughty Nymphos!" Be there!

X -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	19. Chapter 19

Earthchild19

The Earthchild

(An Iczer/Ranma Crossover)

by Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi &amp; Others)

Chapter Nineteen.

"You are certain then, there is no hope for a countermand of these orders?"

"None whatsoever, Sir," the lieutenant reported firmly, "The High Command is as determined to see this through as the Solnoid High Guard themselves, and if their plans for attack come to fruition..."

"It will spell the doom of everything," Commander Lucifer replied, "Not just of them but of the Paranoid race as well."

"Total universal genocide," Lieutenant Baal replied, "Both fleets sail to their doom with star killers at their rear, ready to annihilate an entire solar system if it means the death of the enemy fleet..."

"But to use our own fleet as bait," Lucifer somberly concluded, "Madness! What is the point of victory if neither side will live to achieve it?"

"Sir, if I may be forgiven for making this observation," Baal noted, "But it would appear that this is the aim of both groups of leaders, as if the loss of our mutual homeworlds and outlying colonies has spurred them to such a desperate extreme that the thought of suicide itself holds no terror for them anymore..."

"Of course not," Lucifer growled, "What have they to live for anyway? They are more machines than living people! The Solnoid High Command leaders died long ago but live on in their artificial bodies with only the memory of what it meant to be alive, while our own leaders are more metal than organic...and all because of the failure of Project Exogamous and our schemes to create a Third Race that could mediate between our two peoples!"

"There are reports that the project had one successfully cross-fertilization," Baal noted, "But the seed was lost on Terra when forces from both sides clashed upon the artificial moon of Chaos. No one from either side has dared mount a recovery of the lost subject, and in any event it is much too late for us. With the fleet under Commander Dawn moving to encounter the enemy at Sigma Narse itself..."

"Yes, such a waste, and such a pity," Lucifer frowned, "And none shall even live to know which side came out the victor, if any battle that incurs such fatality could truly be called a victory..."

"That is the matter of why I am here reporting to you, Sir," Baal replied, "There are some in the lower echelons who have initiated a program that might prove useful in salvaging the survival of our race from the ashes of this battle."

"Eh?" Lucifer asked, "What say you?"

"There are as-yet unconfirmed reports which say that the Solnoids have taken steps to insure their own survival, so the Command has devised a plan to insure our own seed is perpetuated to a new generation. Understand, the problem we face is that the enemy has released biogenic weapons into the environments of those colony worlds that have not yet been destroyed outright, rendering them useless for our purposes so that we can no longer supply ourselves with food and raw materials from those planets. We cannot establish a new homeworld so long as all the likely candidates have been infected with an airborne virus that attacks a Paranoid's central nervous system or renders our immune responses null and void, so as long as these diseases thrive upon those worlds we are helpless to establish a new colony...unless we can alter our own genetic make-up to allow us to adapt to these worlds and gain immunity to these terrible diseases."

"I see where this is leading," Lucifer nodded, "A hybrid species mixing Paranoid DNA with that of some native life form..."

"Would become stronger and gain the host species natural resistance," Baal replied, "Which is where you come in, Commander...you have been chosen to head an expedition that will plant biogenic seeds with Paranoid DNA strands that can be implanted in numerous host organisms deemed appropriate for our needs. These seeds will lay dormant for many generations before they spring forth and give birth to new life forms that will contain the Paranoid legacy, and one day a new species will emerge and prove triumphant through competition and conquest. Then the Paranoid civilization will live again, stronger and better than before..."

"But without memory of what has been," Lucifer said, "Our entire lore and culture will be forgotten by them, they will not even know that we lived and once gave birth to them. My mate and many others died in the hope of preserving our civilization...will they have died for nothing? He would not want to be forgotten, nor would I wish that our offspring be forgetful of their parents."

"It may be for the best that they forget about us for a time, Sir," Baal replied, "But our memory will live on. We will leave tokens of our vast knowledge in special data packages designed as artifacts that will weather the ages. One day our children will find these cubes and unlock their secrets...and then the Paranoid civilization will live again, I can assure you of that."

"Then...perhaps it will not have all been for nothing," Lucifer felt a stirring of hope in his bosom, "Perhaps we shall live again and find new meaning in the new world that will dawn for our children. I assume you have my orders with you?"

"Of course, Sir," Ball answered, and extended a pseudopod for the Commander to accept as he curled one protoplasmic tendril about the data cube and started to examine it in the light of his bridge...and in doing so Lucifer saw his own reflection staring back at him, with large dinner-plate sized eyes set in an amorphous pink face that was more octopoid than human...

Muku awoke with a start, her dream still vivid in her mind as the nightmarish vision of the creature she had been. She found herself laying on a soft-as-down bed feeling pleasantly relaxed and relieved at finding herself back in her own body. The images of the Paranoid ship were still too fresh in her memory, and the thought of the creature whose body she had inhabited made her skin faintly crawl with loathing and disdain.

But there was nothing around her that could alarm her in such a way, even if the walls of the room did appear somewhat different from her own bedroom. As Muku glanced up at the ceiling she recognized the architecture as being C'thuwulf in design, and the furnishings were quite nice, for all that she had some difficulty identifying their relative nature. There was a large picturesque window to one side through which light trailed through some kind of optical filter that partially opaqued the view but gave a very nice observation of Gamora city, as seen from a slight elevation. Muku was amazed at witnessing the curiously futuristic buildings with their highly organic framework, and she stared to move her body in order to get a better angle at which to appreciate this aesthetically pleasing skyline...

...And felt her hand brush against soft, naked skin that was not her own, making her aware of a warm body that lay close beside her, snuggled in for warmth and comfort, and without having to look she began to get a creeping sensation that she knew whose body it was curled up next to her own.

Very slowly she turned her head to see Rhea's blissfully sleeping form, shoulder and arm bared from beneath the silken sheets that only partially were draped over her completely naked breasts. The Bioroid looked sweetly angelic as she murmured something faintly in her sleep that sounded like, "Muku-chan..."

That prompted Muku to look down at herself, at which point she realized that she was not wearing her pajamas and was-in fact-quite naked beneath her half of the bedsheets. Vague memories about being shown to her room late at night by Rhea led her to an obvious and rather inescapable conclusion, at which point she did the only thing natural to her in such a situation.

She jump up out of bed and stumbled up against the wall, pressing her back against it as she gave a yelp of panicked realization!

"Mmm?" Rhea sleepily stirred back to life, "Muku-chan...? What is wrong?"

"AH-ME-AH-OH MY-!"

"Oh my what?" Rhea asked as she pushed herself up to a sitting position, stretching her arms and yawning in an entirely human manner (and causing Muku's eyes to widen as she stared at the Bioroid's naked upper body, "Is it morning already? My internal sensors say that there's at least two hours left before you need to be back at your school..."

"BUT-BUT-DID WE-DID I-?" Muku gulped aloud and said, "Hooboy..."

"Did we what?" Rhea seemed momentarily confused, but then she seemed to grasp the reason for Muku's distress and abruptly colored, "Oh...you mean...did we do...that?"

"Yes that!" Muku snapped, pointing accusingly at the Iczer, "Did we or did we not...ah..."

"Oh...well," Rhea continued to blush as she looked guiltily at Muku, "No...actually...you fell asleep shortly after we got back to my room, so I...undressed you and put you to bed. There was no time for anything else...I'm sorry if I gave you that impression..."

"Huh?" Muku blinked, "You're...sorry?"

"For giving you the wrong idea," Rhea replied, starting to stand up, "Although...if you had been in a mood for it and reasonably well rested...I would not have minded at all. Sharing pleasure is perfectly natural for an Iczer and her partner, my Mothers do it all of the time, and so do my Aunts..."

"Ah...they do?" Muku asked as she stared at Rhea's unselfconscious manner as the Bioroid spread her legs to shoulder-width and she began to stretch her body as though to limber herself for the performance of some katas, acting completely oblivious of the fact that she was stark naked.

"Oh yes," Rhea said as she rotated her hips and flexed her spine a bit before returning to a fully upright posture, "We C'thuwulf believe that the mind and body should be integrated as one unit, and that parts of the body become blocked and stymied if they are not properly worked into some form of balance. It is the reason why we Iczers were designed to perfectly duplicate a human frame...we have nervous systems that closely match your own, which helps enormously in the process of synchronization. That is why I have a functioning set of sexual organs, the same as you, though mine were not intended to be used for reproductive purposes. Most C'thuwulf contain functioning sex organs, but in us they are largely atrophied from countless generations of disuse. They function for us to heighten sexual arousal, while yours are primarily designed with the purpose of making babies inside your own body."

"Well...um...right," Muku conceded.

"As I said," Rhea replied, smiling now more openly at Muku, as if fully appreciating the nakedness of her partner, "We C'thuwulf believe that blocked nerve passages can diminish ones health and vitality, so we neglect no area of the body when we stimulate for arousal. I know that your society tends to frown on sex outside of the approved form of a marriage, but to us sex is as important to health as food and water, and not receiving enough of it can be very unhealthy."

"You mean you...do this for health?" Muku swallowed as she saw Rhea approach her, only to have the Bioroid place a finger to her lips.

"We do it for both health and pleasure," Rhea said with a charming smile, "As your friends were greeted by my people when they attended the Onsen last night..."

"When they-HUH?" Muku blinked, "No way! Are you telling me they...?"

"Have I said something to upset you, Muku-chan?" Rhea asked, "I was...hoping that I might be permitted to show you the same hospitality since we are in my room together."

"In you're...room?" Muku suddenly had a very good idea of how things appeared from the Bioroid's angle and swallowed appropriately before stammering out, "Er...I...it's nice of you to offer and all that but..."

"I understand," Rhea sighed, lowering her hand, "It is still too soon for you. I should not press my case...or at least that is what my Aunt would say, though I did hope..." she sighed again, then turned reluctantly away, "No doubt you would like to bathe, dress and have something to eat before attending your high school. I will see that you are safely delivered to your class, along with the rest of your friends..."

"Rhea-chan?" Muku blinked as she watched the strawberry blonde haired elf-girl turn away, "Are you...mad at me?"

Rhea paused to turn back, and then she smiled at Muku and said, "How could I ever be mad at you? I am the one who took certain...liberties with you during the night...to insure that you would be comfortable. I did not mean to incur your disapproval by forcing myself upon you...I would never do that to you, Muku-chan. It is just...that I had hoped this time that you might be ready..."

"Ready...to...?" Muku stopped herself from completing that thought and reflexively covered herself up with both hands, only to gulp in surprise as Rhea came back to her holding up another fresh version of the borrowed dress that she had been wearing on her last visit, this time green colored and styled rather much like a school uniform, and with some reluctance on her own part, Muku accepted the uniform and nodded her thanks for her nominal "partner."

"I had this made for you after your last visit," Rhea informed her, "It is specially designed so that you can change into it through the use of your bracelet, or make it disappear when it is not needed. It will look enough like your school clothing so as not to raise suspicion, but it can be converted to a third form type on command, when you need something more appropriate to combat."

"Oh yeah?" Muku asked, beginning to relax somewhat, "Like what?"

"I will show you," Rhea turned her head and said, "Unit Six-Nine, please come forward."

Muku blinked her eyes as a new object entered the room from a side panel, one that was only a meter in height and hovered above the floor as though suspended on an invisible wire. It was vaguely humanoid in shape, but seemed more like a cute version of an Anime-styled robot. It even had a kind of face with eyes that were like two translucent mirrors, and then it halted a couple of meters away and seemed almost to be studying Muku with its unblinking expression.

"Unit Six-Nine, complying with instructions," it replied in a curiously hollow intonation.

"W-Wha...it talks?" Muku gasped,

"This is Unit Six-Nine," Rhea explained, "An Iczelion unit that is being assigned to you for your personal defense. The Iczelions are an elite battalion of armored warriors who serve the C'thuwulf cause, and some of them are Earth women, like yourself, who have become our allies. It's considered a normal function for partners these days to have their own Iczelion units, just as my mother and Aunt Sayoko, and-of course-you met three members of the Iczelion Corps last night at the Onasen."

Muku recalled the armored women, who had spirited them to Gamora base while Rhea was still recovering from her injuries, and she pointed at the diminutive robot before saying, "This...this is a suit of armor like those women were wearing?"

"Indeed," Rhea nodded, "Show her, Unit Six-Nine."

"As you wish," the mini-robot studied Muku a moment before saying, "Unit Six-  
Nine now recognizing subject Senzenen Muku Dori as this unit's designated controller. Charging up-now!"

All at once the robot seemed to come apart as though its various unit components were detachable, and all at once those parts flew to cover Muku's naked body. She gasped and staggered a moment before feeling an electric shimmer pass over her skin, and then she stared down in amazement as she saw her body now clad in some kind of form-fitting material that covered those areas left exposed by the huge platelets of armor that otherwise adorned her body.

"Now you are an Iczelion," Rhea smiled proudly, "And with a little training in the use of the armor's natural abilities, you can fight the Venomoids without any fear of contamination. It is quite powerful, although not as powerful as a fully trained Iczer, because its strength is derived from you and your will. The armor will obey your mental commands, just as you should learn to listen to its internal instructions as the onboard computer will supply to you a full knowledge of your capabilities and how to use them. This way you can fight beside me as a full equal without having to enter our Iczer Robo. Feel free to ask the armor any questions and Unit Six-Nine will comply as best he is able."

"Unit...six-nine?" Muku blinked, only to hear a voice speaking in her mind, (A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Muku Dori-san).

"He will not be too intrusive in your life, so don't be afraid to confide in him, he is totally loyal," Rhea continued, "He will protect you from all forms of personal harm, which means that I won't have to be watching your back a full twenty four hours in a day...not that I mind watching you, of course," she smiled all the more sweetly, "But he will stay in the background and remain unseen by others until you need him. He has stealth capabilities and is programmed to avoid unnecessary contact with others..."

"You said he?" Muku blinked.

"Yes?" Rhea asked in surprise.

"You used a male pronoun," Muku pointed out, "But always before you described things in the feminine gender..."

"I...suppose that I did," Rhea seemed puzzled as she considered the matter, "Curious...I wonder why that is?"

"Uh...never mind," Muku replied, glancing down at her armor, "I'm impressed by this demonstration and all...but...how do you take this off?"

"Merely think, 'Armor Away,'" Rhea replied, and when Muku did she found the robot detach itself from her body and seemingly vanish, but rather than restore her to her former naked condition she instead found herself wearing the dress which Rhea had provided.

"Whoah..." Muku exclaimed in further amazement.

"Any clothing which you are wearing prior to changing into your armor will be stored away in a subspace compartment until you need it once again," Rhea revealed, "Much as I can make my armor appear when I have need of it." And to emphasize the point she stood firmly as her armor reappeared on her body.

"Neat," Muku grinned, feeling more relaxed now that the two of them were at least wearing some type of clothing, "Um...well...so..." she took a moment to glance around, "This is your room, huh?"

"Yes," Rhea said as she made a sweeping gesture to include their immediate environs, "I brought you here because separate quarters have yet to be assigned to you, and besides..."

"Partners should stay together, right?" Muku said as she studied the room in more detail, finding it an elegant, spacious if somewhat typical room for a teenager, if one ignore the ultra-modern sleekness to the place, the full bed that the two of them had been sharing, and the windows that took up a full third of the walls in the place, wrapped around like a four meter-tall canopy opening out upon the city of New Gamora, "Nice place...and you even have a wall poster of a favorite Idol singer of mine, Ijima Kiiro..."

"She's an Iczelion warrior," Rhea revealed, "We...kind of look up to her around here as a symbol of human and C'thuwulf cooperation."

"Oh," Muku took a moment to absorb this then said, "I thought that girl in gold armor looked familiar...but wait...wasn't she also at the Onsen with that-  
oh..."

"Yes," Rhea replied, "She and my Aunt Kawai are...very close friends...even partners. Around here having a partner is the most important thing...it's our equivalent of a serious relationship, perhaps even what you would call a marriage."

"A...marriage?" Muku swallowed.

Rhea just smiled at her then turned to the window and said, "Open shades, eighty percent permeation."

At once the picture windows cleared up to reveal more light, and then Muku gasped as she saw the city unfold in all its true glory. Now it was not only was it the most advanced and aesthetically pleasing city that she had ever seen or even read about, but it was beautiful beyond compare, like a jeweled garden unfolding before her eyes. She almost did not react when she felt Rhea move closer beside her, but then the other girl took her hand and squeezed it in a reassuring manner.

"This is what I fight for, Muku-chan," Rhea confided, "Every time I see this view I know that the world I fight to bring about is growing here, nurtured in the sanctuary of this haven. It is a world where humans and Bioroids can share equally of its bounty, and where the C'thuwulf people can live again in peace and prosperity, exactly as the Goddess intended."

Muku felt the hand of her new friend squeeze hers ever-so-gently, and reflexively she squeezed it back, feeling oddly moved and contented at that moment. She wanted to see more of this world that existed beneath Tokyo, knew that she had to return here soon to explore its mysteries and discover more about the people who lived here. Having Rhea for a tour guide certainly seemed like a very pleasant prospect, and the sense that she legitimately belonged here was growing in her bosom. It was indeed a very pleasant feeling.

But first a good soak in the Onsen was urging her to postpone her sightseeing tour, then she had to get herself ready for school, thankful that most of her school books were still locked up in her locker and knowing that time was a premium she turned to Rhea and said, "Mind taking me to the baths and...ah...I'll skip the full body treatment...for now, okay?"

"For now, all right," Rhea smiled back, and in that smile Muku found something infinitely more dazzling than the fake sunset on the false horizon, and in that moment her heart grew lighter and she smiled back at her companion feeling a new awareness of the ties between them growing ever stronger the longer they were together...

"TADAIMA!" Nagisa called out as she and her companions returned to command central, "We're home everyone, did you miss us?"

Cobalt whirled around and said, "WHERE-WERE-YOU?" in tones as scary as any Demon Head attack ever launched by a Tendo.

"Whoah!" Sayoko did a back-step, "Don't go all nuclear on us...what's wrong, did something happen while we were out?"

"What happened?" Iczer Two demanded, sensing from the tension in the air that something significant had occurred during their absence.

"Yes, what did happen?" Iczer One inquired more calmly, turning to Sepia and saying, "Deputy Commander?"

"Do you want the short list or in more detail?" the sandy-blonde base commander replied, "We had an incident involving your daughter...Atros by name, and she came complete with her own Void-style Iczer Robo."

"Atros?" Nagisa reacted, "She's alive? Gold brought her back?" then she blinked her eyes and added, "Daughter?"

"Is there anybody we haven't faced in the past that they won't bring back?" Sayoko asked, then paused before saying, "Who's Atros?"

"Before your time, Darling," Iczer Two replied, "I barely even knew her myself. Neos created her a short time before reviving me, and she was supposed to be a clone of Troi, only she turned renegade against her Master and sided with us before Neos destroyed her."

"Only Gold wasn't taking any chances this time," Cobalt revealed, "She filled Atros with a copy of her own base program to insure that she would have a one-  
track intention to destroy both Rhea and Troi."

"Was anyone hurt?" Iczer One asked.

"Your daughter, for one," Cobalt replied, "Atros ambushed her and some of her new friends in the middle of a dress shop and stabbed Rhea-chan in the back, just missing her heart by the width of a finger."

"WHAT?" both Iczer One and Nagisa cried out with matching shocked expressions.

"Rhea-chan," Iczer Two looked no less stricken.

"Is she...?" Sayoko could not finish the question.

"Surprisingly enough, she not only survived but she's fully recovered," Sepia declared, "Those friends turned out to have special gifts of their own that are remarkable even by the standards of C'thuwulf science."

"Thank the Kami!" Nagisa sighed and leaned against Iczer One, who did not look any more steady on her feet upon hearing this reassuring revelation.

"They healed her?" Iczer Two asked with an openly astonished expression.

"Whoah," Sayoko said, "Who are these guys who could perform a healing spell on an Iczer?"

"We'll get to that in another moment," Sepia made a placating gesture, "The point is that we couldn't find any of you, and if Troi had not returned to central when she had and gone to the battle site to rescue your daughter..."

"Troi fought against Atros?" Iczer Two sharpened on that point with her usual tactical grasp of any combat situation.

"Fought her and won," Cobalt said, "After a fashion."

"After a fashion?" Sayoko repeated.

"She...had help," Sepia replied, "A temporary partner."

"WHAT?" Iczer One and Two chorused with both of their partners, the stunned parents and designated teacher of Rhea jointly surprised at hearing that their younger sister had found someone to bond with.

"Whoah...talk about missing all the fun when you step out of the office..." Sayoko marveled.

"A Temporary partner?" Iczer One blinked her eyes, "Troi?"

"Who is the unfortunate party who could bond with her?" Iczer Two marveled.

"One of those friends we previously mentioned," Cobalt turned to a monitor and said, "Call up the picture from the cradle for Delta unit."

An image appeared in the air as a holographic image depicted the designated Iczer Robo, stunning both Iczers once again, though it was Sayoko who had the presence of mind to ask, "What's that strapped across its back? It looks kind of like a giant...spatula?"

"A bakers peel," Iczer Two clarified, "Only fifty meters long..."

"Where did Troi get that?" Nagisa asked numbly, "And who could have made it?"

"Troi's partner, for one," Sepia revealed, "Created out of Subspace virtual matter."

"And it still holds integrity in real space?" Iczer One marveled.

"Apparently it was invested with so much energy that it's assumed its own integrity field," Cobalt replied, "Spectal analysis reveals that it is composed of solid iron...almost one hundred percent pure..."

"Ninety-nine-point-nine-nine-nine-eight percent to be exact," Sepia clarified, "With the atoms assuming an almost diamond-like arrangement, so hard that it's almost like Adamantium, and with that level of purity it won't even rust...and we still have yet to find an internal fracture rate, even though it was used to finish off a giant Void."

"Who could have created something like that?" Iczer One sounded shaken, not only at the near loss of a child but the discovery that her sister could have obtained such a powerful partner.

"I know who..." Iczer Two blinked her eyes, "But I don't believe it...a Saotome did this! They have a unique ability to focus Iczerio-type energies, and my mentor had such incredible powers of concentration that he could easily have made something like this...only..."

"You are right on the mark, Two," Cobalt revealed, calling up another image of a human woman, "Meet Saotome Sakura, the daughter of your former Sensei and Troi's current amorata..."

"Troi's...?" Iczer Two grew pale, "That child I knew long ago...she can't be more than sixteen in human years...she wouldn't! She couldn't! TROOOOOIIIII!"

"That's who we're talking about, right?" Sayoko pointed out.

"She would and she could," Iczer One said grimly.

"So she did," Nagisa concluded in a hollow tone of voice.

"Where is Troi now?" Iczer One asked before hesitating and adding, "And...my daughter?"

"Our daughter," Nagisa frowned, shaking off her surprise to convert to a worried mother, "Where is she now?"

"With her partner, no doubt enjoying a sunrise from the vantage point of her room," Cobalt answered, "If you wish we could disturb their rest..."

"No thank you," Iczer One replied, "Nagisa and I will seek out Rhea when we know that she is awake and not otherwise...occupied."

"But that doesn't mean we're not going to hear the full story about this later!" Nagisa whirled towards Sepia and said, "You guys should have contacted us..."

"How?" Sepia asked, "Your partners had turned off their internal links and went into stealth mode, while you and Sayoko weren't answering your bracelets..."

"We had them off for a reason," Sayoko replied, "But if you really wanted to get a hold of us, you could have tried using our Iczelions. We had them set on monitor-only mode just in case they were needed."

"The...Iczelions?" Cobalt exchanged a non-plussed look with Sepia, who looked back just as sheepishly and said, "We...kind of forgot about that..."

"But I told Troi how to find us if we were really, really needed..." Sayoko started to say when her partner clenched her fists and growled, "TROI-WHERE IS SHE?"

"Ah...that's kind of the thing," Sepia replied, "She down in the Containment Zone being fitted out for a mergence. You see...Atros was recovered intact, but she's still infected by Gold's program, and Sister Grey believes it can purged from her, but only with Troi's cooperation..."

"She's going inside?" Iczer One thought she was beyond surprise at this point, but this news was truly a stunner.

"That reckless idiot!" Iczer Two whirled about, "Doesn't she realize that Gold's program might infect her, that we could lose both of them with such a stunt?"

"She knows," Cobalt replied, "But...she and Grey think it may be worth the risk."

"How?" Nagisa demanded, "What could be worth risking her sanity and possibly turning her against us?"

"And for a clone of herself created by an enemy?" Sayoko blinked her eyes, "That doesn't sound at all like her..."

"Not a clone," Sepia replied, then hesitated.

"Grey...did some tests and determined that Atros is not a clone of Troi," Cobalt revealed, "She's...her biological daughter."

"SAY WHAT?" came a collective gasp from both Iczers and their partners.

"Her daughter?" Nagisa blinked her eyes, "Created from the Iczerio? But...why does she look like a reverse negative image of Troi then?"

"Ah...that's the other thing," Sepia felt along the edge of her collar.

"There was another imprint in her genetic code," Cobalt added, "A second partner...yours, as a matter of fact, Nagisa-san."

Stunned silence ensued, followed moments later by Sayoko's gasp, "ANOTHER ONE...?"

Iczer One turned to her stunned partner and asked, "Is there something you've been meaning to tell me..?"

"Everything checks out from out here," Grey mused, "How are things on your end, Child?"

"I'm just fine, Mom," Troi replied from where she floated in her regeneration chamber, "Are we gonna do this anytime before I get older?"

"Patience Child," Grey urged with a faint smile, "Your daughter isn't going anywhere at the moment, and we have to make certain that everything is calibrated to within precisely balanced parameters before we allow you to go into her. Once you're inside you'll be in Gold's dominion, and we have to make sure you are well armored to cope with that."

"Yeah, whatever," Troi replied indifferently, only to say a moment later, "Mom...am I really that much of a pain for you to work with?"

The Chief Scientist had to smile at this as she replied, "I didn't get the name of Grey because my of my hair changing color watching you grow up, but...forgive my saying that Motherhood certainly has made a difference in my outlook. You are my pride and joy and the greatest of my accomplishments, and I wouldn't trade you for the world, even if you are a trial to anyone's patience."

Troi had to softly chuckle in that, an odd effect the way the synthetic bioamniotic fluid in which she was submerged conducted sound and gave her voice a peculiar ring, "I guess I do kind of push the envelope a bit...but Mom...I never wanted to cause you any grief. I've just been trying to get by these last fifteen years since I gave up on my first partner."

"You knew that Nagisa belonged to your sister long before you," Grey smiled knowingly, "I can only imagine how hard it was for you, only a child, to give up on the closest bond you knew that you could ever share with a fellow human being, only to watch her be embraced by the sister you adore...while you have sought what comfort you can under the eternal promise that another would come along for whom you were destined..."

"Thanks for summing up my whole life in one long sentence," Troi replied, "But I'd hardly call all my dates cheap ones...like the last girl I went out with...you should have seen her roll! I was practically a passenger along for the ride...and whoooooh! Is she ever a looker!"

"But now you're faced with the ghosts of your past," Grey mused, "And Atros is the embodiment of everything you lost when you gave up on Nagisa. Are you afraid now that you could revive the pain that was caused in you so long ago?"

"When did you get to add Shrink to your list of talents?" Troi winced.

"It comes with being a mother," Grey replied, "And if we are successful, perhaps you'll find out for yourself."

"Swell," Troi said, "Something else to look forward to..."

"That's assuming you even have a future," declared an angry Iczer Two as she appeared in the laboratory alongside her sister and their mutual partners, "Come out of there, Troi, we have to talk!"

"Oh, hi guys," Troi waved her hand, "Just get back to the hanger?"

"Yes, and we heard quite a lot about what has been happening during our absence," Iczer One said without her usual indulgent smile regarding her sister, "And we would have heard about it a lot earlier if you had thought at all to inform us..."

"Oh...that," Troi winced, "Well...I knew Nagisa and Sayoko were gonna keep your guys busy, and I thought I could take care of things by myself..."

"Well, you were wrong!" Iczer Two snapped, her face only inches from the transparent capsule, "You should have thought about Iczer One and Nagisa! That was their daughter who almost got killed out there fighting your child!"

"Hey, don't snap at me, Two!" Troi said, "That attack happened before I even got there, and the Iczelions got her to a regenerator in time, after some kids did most of the healing. Atros may be my kid, but she was out of control, and she was MY responsibility!"

"You should not have tried to handle it on your own," Iczer One replied, "And to involve a civilian as an untried partner..."

"Yes," Iczer Two growled, "And to top it off, she was THE DAUGHTER OF MY SENSEI AT THAT!"

"Ah...well..." Troi replied, "There wasn't time to get someone else, and she was a damned sight closer to a match to my biorhythms than the last girl..."

"And that makes it right?" Iczer Two waved her hands, "You are unbelievable! The last girl you partnered with was in a comma for a week! The feedback of an imprecise match nearly killed her..."

"Hey, it nearly killed me!" Troi countered, "I took the brunt of it on myself..."

"We know," Iczer One replied, "And we know you would do anything you could to spare a partner from injury or worse, but to ask an untried youth to undertake such a burden..."

"Excuse me," someone else spoke up, "But I believe I'm in a better position to judge that than any of you."

Heads turned as a tall young girl stepped out from concealment, dressed in a borrowed C'thuwulf-styled outfit similar to the one Muku had been wearing the day before though her hair had obviously been styled when it was put up into her usual pony tailed fashion, and she had a much easier manner about her than the day before, as if no longer carrying the burden of inexpressible emotions.

"Sakura-chan?" Iczer-Two responded with belated recognition.

"I remember you," Sakura smiled, "Long time no see, Two. And you, Sayoko-  
san...you have grown up, but you're much as I remember."

"You've grown up!" Sayoko blinked as she looked the girl up and down, obviously very much impressed with what she was seeing.

"How did you get inside here?" Grey asked, "This is a highly secured facility..."

"Yes, I know," Sakura replied, "I asked one of your people where you were and then I went looking for you...took a while to find my way around here, and then I heard you talking about me..."

"Oh," Troi winced, "You...heard about that, huh?"

"You are the one who fought beside Troi against Atros?" Iczer One arched an eyebrow.

"Yes," Sakura replied, "And before you condemn her for bringing me into this, she did warn me that there would be risks, and I came of my own volition."

"You did?" Nagisa replied.

"Yes," Sakura half-smiled, "Several times as a matter of course..."

"But still," Iczer One insisted, "Our sister should not have involved you...I can only guess what your father would say if he were to learn of this...and your mother..." she reflexively winced.

"Let me worry about my parents, Two," Sakura replied, "I'm more worried about what Troi intends to do to help Atros."

"Ah...yes..." Nagisa winced, "About Atros..."

"Yeah," Sayoko growled, "How come you have three daughters by each of the Iczers while I don't even have one!" she turned on her partner and said, "You know what this means, don't you? One way or another, you and I are gonna have that baby we talked about earlier!"

"Ah...er...I see," Iczer Two winced slightly.

"But still," Iczer One insisted on returning to the main subject, namely Sakura, "To bring you into this...there can be no way that Troi would have had time to prepare you for what is involved in a battle between Iczer Robos..."

"Oh yes," Grey mused, "Rather like the time you first conscripted your partner, wouldn't you say?"

"Ah..." Iczer One paused to think about it, then saw the knowing look of Nagisa, which caused the blonde haired warrior to look a bit sheepish.

"Different circumstances," Iczer Two persisted, "And in no way does this justify your taking such reckless and thoughtless liberties with her, Sister..."

"Shouldn't I be the one to judge what's reckless?" Sakura countered, "After all, it's my body."

Troi winced as she saw Two turn her glance from Sakura back her way, to which she faintly murmured, "That's it, I'm dead..."

"I can justify it with one word," Grey challenged, "Synchronization."

That got everyone's attention, especially Iczer One, who replied, "How is that again, Doctor?"

"When Troi brought Sakura-san into her Iczer we had a reading of a ninety-four percent synchronization rate, which is pretty high for a first time in a Robo unit," Grey explained, "But during the fight that rate increased dramatically until it was at ninety-nine-point three percent of full synchronization...and then-at the very height of the battle-it crossed over the threshold into the one hundred and six percent range of what is optimal for a partner...in other words they were both able to achieve momentary synchronization, and in that moment they became a truly unstoppable force, to which the enemy never even stood a chance."

"You're kidding," Nagisa blanched.

"Troi and this woman...?" Iczer One blinked.

"...Achieved full synchronization?" Iczer Two stammered in disbelief.

"Hey, I'm as surprised about it as anyone here," Sakura shrugged, "I wouldn't have thought she was my type when we first met..."

"Oh, you were my type right off the bat, Cute Stuff," Troi leered, only to assume an innocent expression when her sisters both turned back to her with inquiring expressions.

"Troi...and Sakura?" Sayoko whistled, "Your old man is not gonna be too thrilled about this..."

"Let me worry about that," Sakura replied, turning to look at the naked Troi with an unflinching gaze, "The important thing is that you have to save your daughter from her virus. I came here to let you know that I'll be rooting for you...I only wish there was something more practical that I could to help out."

"Oh...you're helping out all right," Troi smiled back in a more affable manner, not bothering to add that she could feel the other girl's emotions resonating inside of herself, as though the link between them was still fully active, "And it's the thought that counts, right?"

One and Two both blinked in tandem, then Nagisa said, "Looks like Troi finally got herself a partner...at least for the moment."

"I see," Iczer One relaxed somewhat, "In that case...then I wish both of you the best, though only time will tell if this is a good arrangement."

"I still don't like this," Two crossed her arms and glared at Troi, "Putting aside the question of how I will ever be able to face her father again, you do realize that certain responsibilities and obligations must be in force with even a temporary partnership?"

"Of course I know that, Two," Troi snapped, "Worry about your own sex life, will you? I'll bet you guys had quite a night together, and the reason I didn't notify you was because I thought Nagisa and Sayoko would kill me for messing up their plans."

"You mean...you knew what they intended in advance?" One asked.

"But...how could you know before us?" Two wondered.

"Geez, Sis," Troi gave her a lopsided look and shook her head (which caused her silvery hair to foam out in her aqueous environs, "For somebody who looks and acts like a Bondage Queen, sometimes you can be so na ve! Anybody could tell that your partners were looking for a little harmless mate-swapping, and they didn't want to be disturbed for that by anything short of a major earthquake!"

Two colored abruptly at that while One looked suitably embarrassed, yet both of their partners had identical smirks, thus confirming all suspicions, which got even Grey to raise an eyebrow at this revelation.

"Partner swapping?" she mused in the manner of a school marm, "How naughty..."

"Hey, happens all the time with us humans," Sayoko leered, "Right Duela?"

Iczer Two winced while Troi made a fish-like expression then said, "Duela?"

"That's right," Nagisa smiled as she took her partner by the arm, "And from now on I'm calling her Unus, at least while we're out in public. Has a ring to it, don't you think? Kano Unus?"

"Sounds nasty," Troi chuckled, then added, "Unus and Duela...I like that!"

"I don't," Iczer Two grumbled.

"What was that, Duela?" Sayoko asked her innocently.

"Uh...nothing," the redheaded warrior replied.

"Well then," Sister Grey remarked, "If we have all of that settled, then perhaps we should get started with the operation. All systems appear to be within desirable settings...we are ready to begin the mergence any time that you are ready, Child."

"All right, Mom," Troi replied, turning back to her sisters, "Guys...this'll have to wait until I get back. I'm gonna need to focus all my energies on getting rid of that virus that's infected my child. I think you know where I'm coming from here, Oneechan, what it's like having a daughter..."

"I do understand," Iczer One affirmed, "You do what you have to, Sister...Two and I will stay with you and watch to see that you come back to us unaltered."

"Duela," Sayoko corrected.

"Whatever," Iczer two grimaced.

"I'll stay with you too, if you don't mind me," Sakura said simply.

"Wouldn't have it any other way, Beautiful," Troi assured, "Anytime you're ready, Mom."

"Be careful," Nagisa warned, "Big Gold is evil incarnate, and she delights in twisting everything to her advantage."

"Tell me something I don't already know," Troi murmured as she waited for the process to begin, closing her eyes and drifting a bit in her regeneration cubicle while Grey made a few last-minute adjustments then paused to give a final look towards her daughter.

"May the blessings of the Goddess be with you, my Child," she said, and then she keyed in the command to activate the final circuit, and a moment later Troi felt her world begin to swirl like a drain that sucked her in down a long tube to the outcome on the other end, at the point of which she wound up...elsewhere...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Cell Pools of the Id: shadowmane

It's Troi versus Big Gold for the fate of Atros as the valiant Iczer goes toe-  
to-toe with the monster Computer Virus, but will victory or defeat be her reward for opening a channel to her offspring? Find out next time in: "Mind Games," or "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Balm!" Be there!

X -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	20. Chapter 20

Earthchild20

The Earthchild

(An Iczer/Ranma Crossover)

by Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi &amp;  
Toshiro Hirano, with special ideas &amp; inspiration Supplied by Johannes Huber)

Chapter Twenty.

There once was a young girl who lived in a far away kingdom set on a world very much like the Earth and inhabited by an humanoid species. This little girl lived with her father in a magical land where those gifted with the powers of the mind were honored and revered as special, blessed by the Gods and unusually well favored. Her father ran a special kind of shop that made dolls for children to play with, but they were known throughout the Kingdom as the possessors of a magic gift that manifested in their clan, for they were Noh Puppeteers, able to animate their own creations and gift them with a lifelike semblance for the purposes of entertainment.

As Noh Puppeteers, her father and the little girl could weave the invisible threads of their gift around their wooden creations and cause them to dance and carry about upon a stage, and people would come from all around the kingdom just to watch them put on one of their marvelous performances. Her father was very skilled at moving dolls and props about the stage without the need of a stage hand and was a very gifted storyteller, but the little girl was even more extraordinary in her gifts, able to manipulate dozens of her dolls across the stage and she could make them perform complex movements of song and dance, even perform realistic sword battles and acts of daring do that pleased the crowds and was even known to please the King when he ordered that they should give a command performance. They had earned the royal seal of approval, and all across the kingdom they were known as the Wondrous Weavers of story enchantment, and the little girl was very happy because she loved her father very much and looked up to him for his kindness and his wisdom.

She also had a little brother, and when he was small she used to think of him as a bother, but as he grew up he proved to be just as gifted as her father and the little girl came to adore him as though he were another of her puppets. She would take him on her lap some days (for he was much, much smaller than herself) and tell him what a great man their father was, and then she would teach him how to carve more puppets for their show, and how to animate them, and the little boy learned quickly, for he was a bright lad and very fond of his sister's teachings. One day he would grow to be just like their father, and that made the little girl very happy, for their family would continue to be known as great Noh Puppeteers well into the next generation.

Of course they had no mother, for she had died while her brother was still very little, and this made the girl sad sometimes because she missed her mother very much. Ironically she valued her brother even more because he was the one thing of their mother that she had left, other than her looks, which her father said had also come from her mother. Her father used to tell her that their mother was looking down on them from the place where the Gods dwelled, and that she was watching out for them and smiling with pride as she watched her children grow. That made the little girl feel better in some ways, and so she always acted as if her mother was watching her and tried never to do anything that might displease her mother.

But then came the day when some very bad people came to visit her father. The little girl-who by now had blossomed into a beautiful young woman-was told by her father to take her brother and go upstairs, but the young woman wanted to know what the strangers were saying and so she stayed close enough in order to overhear their voices. There was something very not-nice about these men, and the more they talked in sinister tones the angrier they made her father. He finally got mad enough to order them to leave his shop, which the men did, but not before warning her father that he was making a mistake and that he should have accepted their offer for his business.

And then came the night of the fire, the night when the little girl's world ended. She remembered waking up in the middle of the night to the smell of smoke and the hint of fire, and then the screams of her little brother, trapped and helpless in his own room...

The images were like a blur from that point on. She remembered trying to get to her brother, the fire getting in her way, and her hands being burned by the flames, her inability to lift a burning beam to free her brother, her father grabbing her and carrying her to safety, and then going back into the building himself to try and find her brother, her screams when the roof caved in behind him...

...The hospital where they fitted her out with a new set of hands...the latest in prosthetics, they said, a new kind of science that could replaced damaged tissues, only these hands felt strange and mechanical, not natural like wood and certainly not alive. At first her powers refused to return to her, leaving her feeling head-blind and helpless, cut off from everything she had ever known and loved, an orphan whose beauty had been marred by the flames so that she now resembled some twisted monstrosity, not beautiful like her puppets, which had all been burned by the flames...the work of a lifetime...several lifetime, that of her father and his father before him...

...She remembered the clinic that had tried to rehabilitate her mind and body, she remembered the drugs they gave her, the moods and the depression, the loss of her gift and her focus...she remembered withdrawing into her shell, the cocoon she had tried to draw around herself to contain her loss, to shut out the world and to imagine that life was just as it was before the fire, that her father and little brother would be greeting her if she opened her eyes and pretended the whole tragic mess had never happened. She remembered the wellspring of her grief reaching out into the heavens, petitioning her mother...and the silence that greeted her desperate appeal to the gods and the ghosts of her all but extinct family...

...And then something answered her...a dark force that was drawn to the wellspring of her misery, impressed with her latent potential and convinced that she could be of use to her cause...in exchange for which she promised her power and a chance to avenge herself on those who had caused her grief. She had gratefully accepted the offer, feeling abandoned by the gods, not even finding solace in the thoughts of her mother. The being had appeared to her, a demon who was power incarnate and had the means of altering her into something other than human. She gained the power she wanted, then she worked her vengeance upon the landholder who had caused the fires that had killed her father and brother. She remembered exulting in his blood, relishing the carnage of destruction that she had worked on his entire operation and the bodies of all his people. In that moment of exultation Neos had claimed her, filling her being with the love of hate and destruction and purging her memories of her former life and the loss that brought her nothing but pain. In that moment Fiber had been born, the Weaver of Destruction...

Fiber started out of her dazed reverie...amazed to think that she could have been dreaming of all of that, having fallen into some kind of a trance that replaced events that she could not have remembered in any other manner. Somehow the Subspace field was affecting her the longer she remained within its folds, and the prolonged stay was causing her to remember things long buried. She now recalled a life long lost, one she could have sworn that she would never willingly relive, of the pain and the remorse that had driven her to the point of madness on that other world...a world that she had actively taken part in destroying, all for the greater glory of Neos, who had taken away her pain and given her a different sort of madness.

The madness to kill, to destroy and inflict suffering on those who had done her no wrong, who had committed no other crime but to merely share the same space as everyone else. Instead of confining her rage to those who had done her family such a great injustice she had slaughtered the very people she once delighted in entertaining. The people who used to laugh at her Noh Puppetry were the ones who paid the price for her rampages, the children who used to laugh and buy toys from their shop...all gone...all dead...their laughter stilled forever.

"Damn you...Neos!" Fiber balled a prosthetic fist and stared at it as though it were an alien thing. With great deliberation she uncurled it and stared at the claws that she had used to rend flesh and bone with the same ease with which she had torn apart buildings and even heavy armor. Hands that were weapons, not tools, which lacked the finesse of her real hands, long lost, the hands that used to shape and play with the gentle currents of Noh energy when she made her playthings dance for the amusement of others. The joy that once filled her soul had been drowned out by a rage and hatred that many times exceeded her own, and the thought of what she had done in the service of Neos when filled with that hate made her sick to her stomach, as though she would vomit up the almost empty comments...which consisted of nothing more than a half-eaten okonomiyaki.

"Neos, you bastard!" she cried out as she balled her other fist, "You gave me power to destroy, but you took from me my humanity, and for that...I CANNOT FORGIVE YOU!"

"W-Whut...?" Tenma asked as he half awoke from his nap, "Is something wrong...are you all right, lady?"

Fiber turned her gaze to see the youth who was her only companion, and for a moment she saw pale blond hair instead of jet black as the youth look up at her. The image of her long-dead brother staring at her with such a questioning expression caused Fiber to take a half-step backward and gasp in disbelief, convinced that the dead truly did return, just like in her father's stories...and then the moment passed and the reality of her present circumstances was returned, along with it a sense of loss and grief that caused her to fall to her knees, the strength all but leached out of her body.

"Lady?" Tenma asked more alertly, getting to his feet when he paused to see something that was wholly unexpected...tears flowing from Fiber's eyes as the pain of her memories threatened to drown out all of her other senses.

Tenma was many things, a young and innocent son of a Chef and a Martial Arts fighting genius, a gifted progeny and a prodigy of a long and distinguished line of accomplished fighters, but-like his father before him-he bore the Saotome trait of never wanting to see a woman shed tears, especially if he might be the cause behind them.

So he was at Fiber's side only a few seconds after discovering that the Bioroid could be so human, putting his arms around her as she reflexively and instinctively hugged him back, murmuring some strange name in his ear that was not his own name, but obviously meant something special to her and was probably the cause for her feeling so sad all of a sudden. He did not know what had triggered her sadness, but he knew he had to do something to help her, to cheer her up, to make it right again somehow...anything but to leave her in such a state where she so plainly needed a friend, and...besides...she smelled nice. He kind of liked this lady, and he did not want to see her in such pain about things that obviously once met something very important.

"You okay now?" he asked after a long time in which her sobbing slowly subsided.

"Yes...I feel better now," she sighed, "Thank you, Tetsuo...you always make your sister feel better about her life..."

Tenma held the lady for a long time until he felt her shudder again, and then she said, "I mean...Tenma...you're not...Tetsuo..."

"No, I'm not," Tenma smiled lopsidedly, "Sorry about that."

Fiber let go of the boy and sat back, studying his earnestly concerned features before stretching out a clawed hand to feel along the edge of his jaw, consciously noting the line of his vital centers and the ease with which his artery could be severed. That thought horrified her and she drew the claw away, but Tenma never flinched, and for some strange reason he seemed to be unafraid of her, in spite of the monster she was in her own estimation.

"Tenma," she repeated, "It means...Spiritual Horse, does it not?"

"Yeah," Tenma smiled lopsidedly, "I get kidded a lot about that by my classmates."

"You should never let what others say affect you," Fiber noted, then realized how much like a sister she sounded and smiled a bit before sighing again, "I've done...questionable things..."

"Well duh," Tenma replied, "You used to be one of the bad guys."

"Use to be?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Well, monsters don't cry, or at least they don't feel bad about what they do, right?" Tenma asked, "And you're starting to figure out why it's wrong to hurt people..."

"It is wrong..." Fiber could not keep a trembling out of her voice as she added, "There was a time when I would not have harmed an insect...Insect..." she thought a moment, "She used to be a scientist...what you might call an Entomologist, she...loved to study small life forms...and Bigro...she was also a scientist, one who sought to preserve the wildlife of her home planet against the exploitation of those who thought more of profit than preservation. She experimented with animal extracts to find a way to make herself more like the animals she studied...Neos found her, just as she found me...and Insect. Golem...she was an engineer...I remember now...I was there when they were recruited, when they...were converted...like me..."

"And she made you forget about all that stuff?" Tenma asked, "About who you were before she made you robots?"

"Bioroids," Fiber corrected, but then she thought a moment and said, "No, you are right...we were little better than robots, mindless machines doing the bidding of the one who had overwritten our programming. I'm remembering because the Subspace field is doing something to reverse the process...it is allowing me to remember..."

"So...you were a person before she turned you into a bad guy," Tenma smiled, "I was right about you, you're really not a bad person."

"No...I'm not...and you were right," Fiber sighed, "But...you're wrong about one thing...I am still a monster."

Tenma scratched the back of his head. Obviously this was going to be a lot tougher than he thought. He tried to think of something to say, but all he could think of was, "Then...I guess you need to do something about that. You can be a monster and still be a person, right? Then you just have to work on being more human. If you can live with what you are, then you're not the thing that this Neos character tried to make you into. You can make your own rules, and maybe you can become something better..."

"Better than what I am?" Fiber asked, "I wish that I could believe that..."

"Well, why not?" Tenma asked, "You said Subspace is making it possible for you to recover your humanity, right? Well...why can't you use it to make yourself into a better Bioroid...or whatever you want to be? It's just a matter of having enough focus, you said so yourself."

"Yes...I did, didn't I?" Fiber said with a hint of wonder in her voice, "I've taken so many lives...I've devastated entire planets...I...I can't forgive myself for what I've become...but...perhaps I don't have to be that sort of monster any more...perhaps I can find another way to live...just as any form of life must grow and change or perish."

"I guess so," Tenma shrugged, "Change is what life's all about, or so my Pop always says..."

"And you," Fiber looked at the boy with new respect, "You can grow and become far more than you are now...with a bit more training. You have an unusually high degree of control over the Subspace Ethernet...perhaps we can use that to our advantage..."

"Yeah?" Tenma brightened up, "You can teach me stuff that'll make me an even better fighter?"

"More than just a fighter," Fiber waved a finger, "I can show you how to do an art that's been lost for years...Noh Puppetry...and I think you are just the sort of promising lad who would take to this art like a true professional Weaver."

"A weaver?" Tenma blinked, "You mean...like knitting stuff and making baskets and stuff? Aw, that sounds like work for women..."

"Something more than that," Fiber replied, "And you shouldn't underestimate what women can do," she said as she flexed her claws, knowing that they would more than adequately convey her meaning.

"Ah...all right," Tenma subsided, "If you think it could be important, lady."

Fiber smiled, knowing well that she had just undertaken an apprentice, one who could well carry on the lost art of her clan and use it to prove something important...to both her and to Neos. That lesson, namely, that one should never underestimate the human factor or what one could do with enough training and imagination...and maybe one day very soon, Neos would see the results for herself...and learn the true meaning of terror when she felt Fiber's vengeance at the hands of her able apprentice...

"Man, this place is something else," Muku sighed as she enjoyed a long-delayed soaking in the Onsen, "Your people do know how to live, Rhea-chan..."

"I'm glad that you approve of the conditions here, Muku-chan," Rhea replied as she soaked beside her partner, "My parents have worked hard to create as pleasant a living environment as can closely approximate the climate of the lost C'thuwulf homeworld."

"So much greenery," Muku admired, "Are these plants also native to your world?"

"Actually, many are hybrids adapted to grow in the Earth's environment," Rhea replied, "We don't want to upset the natural balance of the planet's ecosystem by introducing forms of life that might displace the native vegetation. There has been some discussion among your people that the C'thuwulf variations might upset the fragile stability of natural life here, so we have sought to blend native species with elements of some of the plant samples that were carried in the C'thuwulf mother vessel. We have also recruited dying or endangered species from the Earth to graft into them hardier traits that could insure their continuing survival. Similarly, we are making available to the Earth governments new forms of technology and energy generation that could slow the production of greenhouse pollutants and help stave off the loss of this world's protective Ozone layer. We have to work slowly and incrementally on that field so as not to betray our existence to the general public, which...certain agencies would prefer not to have happen prematurely..."

"You mean like those guys in black we met last night?" Muku shivered a bit before adding, "They were creepy..."

"I know," Rhea agreed, "I feel the same way every time I see them. The MIB works to cover up all traces of extraterrestrial existence where they deem it necessary, and-had they wished it-they might have blanked out your memories of what you have seen and experienced to date, if not for my Godfather..."

"That Straker guy?" Muku asked.

"He heads an agency that works to protect the Earth from hostile alien encounters," Rhea replied, "And he considers the C'thuwulf to be valuable allies, so he no doubt made sure that the MIB people did not act prematurely."

"So, why am I so special that I have to be the one everybody has to pick on?" Muku sighed.

"You are special to me, Muku-chan," Rhea replied, "And...I would hope that I am not...picking on you, as you put it..."

"I didn't mean you, Honey," Muku smiled in as reassuring a manner as she could manage, "I just...oh, hey! Rini-chan!" she gasped as she saw the pink-haired Senshi girl appear on the patio area wearing nothing but a bath towel.

"Muku-chan?" Rini replied, her eyes going from Muku to Rhea before she asked, "So...did you have an interesting night?"

"Huh?" Muku blinked, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," Rini sighed, going over to one of the benches before removing her bath towel and setting out her toiletries and wash basin, which were obviously C'thuwulf provided, "I just had...a very interesting night myself...and so did the others."

"Oh?" Muku arched both eyebrows with a questioning expression, "And...how do you feel now?"

Rini paused in the act of putting up her hair, unselfconsciously showing off her excellent body to full view with both arms raised to give her perky breasts a languorous stretching, "Oddly enough...I feel rather good...better than I would have believed, all things being considered. I think...I understand something about myself a little better now that I'd never even suspected before, such as why I've always felt attracted to both sexes...I just never could admit it to myself before now. I only wonder how Masamori will feel when he finds out..."

"Oh, there is a good chance that he will understand," Rhea spoke up, "Young human males are quite adaptable, and many find the attraction of two women for one another to be a stimulating experience..."

"And how would you know that?" Muku asked with another raised eyebrow.

"My Aunt Troi tells me about these things," Rhea answered directly, "She has many times entertained a boyfriend by making pleasures with a girlfriend before his eyes...she says that she has never failed to get an erection out of them through vigorous sex-play."

"Your aunt sounds like a very interesting lady," Rini noted with an arched tone before filling her basin full of water and beginning to scrub her body off with a soapy solution.

"Would you like for me to summon an attendant?" Rhea asked, "You don't have to scrub yourself alone if you don't want to."

Rini paused to give Rhea a sardonic look, then smiled and said, "The idea is rather tempting, but...I have to get ready for school now, and Nami-chan had promised to take me to Jubaan when I finish bathing."

"Nami-chan?" Muku raised her other eyebrow.

"It's...a long story," Rini's smile took on a more lopsided tilt, only to frown again as a new sound penetrated the clearing, coming from some nearby bushes, which prompted her to say, "What in the name of Mom's Scepter?"

"That sounds like...Yumi?" Muku blinked.

"It is," Rhea replied, pausing to listen a moment more to the grunts, groans, moans and other noises that could be discerned before adding, "I believe Aunt Salmon is still with her."

"What?" Rini blinked, "They're still at it? I thought they would have gotten some sleep by now..."

Muku paused a moment, then raised her voice and said, "Yumi-chan?"

There was a brief pause as the noises subsided, then Yumi popped her head up from the bushes and said, "You rang, Muku-chan?"

"What are you doing?" Muku wondered, "We have to get ready for school!"

"We still have another hour and a half," Yumi responded as another head popped up beside her, smiling with a grin that would have done justice to a Cheshire, "And besides...I was just getting my breakfast."

"Breakfast?" Muku replied.

Now it was Yumi's turn to wear the grin, "Oh yeah the best kind, a liquid lunch, ala Salmon. Hey, did you know these C'thuwulf girls can lactate on command?"

"They can?" Rini sounded more than a little shocked at this revelation.

"They sure do!" Yumi grinned all the more, then moved her naked body up behind the equally naked body of the pinkish-haired C'thuwulf, who giggled quite girlishly as Yumi took her breasts in both hands and began to kneed them, a moment later causing a thin trickle of milky substance to begin flowing from her nipples, "Neat, huh? And they taste terrific!"

Muku sat where she was with a non-plussed expression, then she hesitantly asked Rhea, "Can you...?"

"Yes," Rhea automatically replied, "There is a method we know for stimulating the hormones that produce lactation..."

"That's...more than I can handle at the moment, thank you," Muku pleaded.

Rini was no less stunned by this news, but then she took on a more thoughtful expression and said, "So that's what she meant when she said that this was the land of flowing milk and honey..."

"Oh yeah," Yumi said, flicking her tongue over one of Salmon's breasts to lap up some of the cream, and much to the other girl's obvious approval, "I guarantee that, guys! Just try it for yourself, you'll love it!"

"Maybe...some other time," Rini said with a look of disquiet, as if mulling over the suggestion.

"Suit yourself," Yumi gazed adoringly into the eyes of the other girl in her arms, but then she reluctantly turned away and said, "What about you, Muku-chan? Did you have a nice time with Rhea-chan?"

"Ah...well..." Muku responded with a sheepish expression.

"You did do it with her, right?" Yumi frowned, "Don't tell me you're still a virgin?"

"Ah...well...I didn't...think it was appropriate to...well...not at this time..." Muku stammered.

"When will be a good time for you?" Rini asked, more puzzled than exasperated.

"Well..." Muku found that she actually had to pause to think about that one.

"So, where did you spend the night if you weren't with miss Sex-pot here, huh?" Yumi challenged.

"Oh, Muku-chan was with me the whole night," Rhea answered.

"With you?" Rini asked.

"But nothing happened!" Muku hastily insisted.

"Yes," Rhea replied, "We only slept together."

"WHAT?" both Rini and Yumi said in chorus.

"In the same bed, but...we didn't...do...whatever," Muku assured.

"In other words you slept with your clothes on, huh?" Yumi arched her eyebrow.

"Oh no," Rhea replied, "We were without clothing the whole time."

"You were naked together?" Rini's pink eyebrows arched primly.

"But we didn't do anything!" Muku insisted.

"With your clothes off...and laying next to Miss Sunshine here?" Yumi's skepticism was peaking.

"We were only sharing warmth," Rhea replied, "I took Muku-chan's clothing off so that we could both be comfortable together."

"GAH-!" Muku whirled to wave her hands placatingly at her friends, "I passed out as soon as I was in bed, honest guys! I didn't do anything with her..."

"Sounds like a lot of things you didn't do," Yumi snorted, "Stuff I sure as heck would have done if I was in your position."

"But I'm not that kind of girl!" Muku tried to assure them.

"Oh, and what kind of girl is that?" Rini asked a bit more archly, "Are you saying we **are** 'those' kinds of girls, Muku-chan?"

"Huh?" Muku blinked, "No-I mean-!"

"Trying to pretend you're better than us because we accepted the hospitality here?" Yumi sniffed, taking Salmon by the hand and saying, "I think we should go off somewhere by ourselves, Honey-pie. It's obvious that some people here think they're too good to associate with the likes of we common riff-raff."

"That's not what I was saying!" Muku declared as Yumi got up and took her new girlfriend by the hand to lead her off.

"What are you saying then?" Rini asked, finishing up on washing herself off with the basin, then moving to slip into the warm water of the Onsen. She waded out until she was near enough to Muku and Rhea that she didn't need to raise her voice before saying, "Ignore her, she's just having fun with you. So...is it really true that you decided to remain a virgin?"

"For now..." Muku grudgingly conceded, all too aware of the eyes of Rhea upon her.

"Take my advice...don't wait too long," Rini counseled, "You've got a friend here who obviously means a lot to you, and she feels about you the same way. Don't let what you have get away from you out of some misguided notion about 'saving yourself' for your wedding night...it might never happen."

"You...really did enjoy it?"

Rini just smiled before responding, "Let's just say I won't be crying rape anytime soon...and I finally understand why some of my aunts behave the way they do. Of course, I wasn't the only one who seemed to be getting into it...where are Yui and Sakura?"

"I don't know," Muku replied, "I thought you'd know."

"We...kind of drifted apart around midnight," Rini said with a sheepish smile that was calculated to again raise both of Muku's eyebrows, "Yumi seems to have made out all right, so I guess the same holds true for Sakura...while Yui...who knows where she wandered off this time? In a complex this size she could be anywhere..."

"Oh, I am certain that Trout would have stayed with her to see she did not get into any trouble," Rhea replied, "In fact I'm sure they are doing quite well and will be seeing you again when you get to school, Muku-chan."

"I hope so, but that would be a first," Muku smiled, "Yui has trouble making attendance rolls, so she...has a kind of flexible schedule and does a lot of her school work at home...you get used to these things when you hang out with a Hibiki..."

About this point in her day Yui would normally be saying something like, "Where am I this time?" but instead she had a perfectly good idea where she was, having been guided to this point by her nominal companion of the evening, the crimson haired C'thuwulf named Trout, who was playing helpful tour guide at the moment.

"This is a bathroom?" Yui asked, having been directed here upon awakening with a full bladder.

"Well, kind of," Trout replied, "Think of this more as a biological needs full service station, what we C'thuwulf use to maintain full cleanliness and hygiene."

"So...how does it work?" Yui asked as she stared at the pristine room with a row of circles lined up along one wall, and another row of mirrors before what looked like a row of sinks lining another wall, all highly polished and organic looking with no right angles to speak of.

"Just walk up to one of the circles and stand there, the rest is automatic," the pink haired Trout replied.

Yui did as she was instructed, conscientious of the fact that her nocturnal companion was watching her move with undisguised and undiminished interest since Yui was naked, having awaken in that condition. She had meant to ask for her clothing, but the urge to relieve herself had taken precedence over everything, and Trout had insisted that clothing would be unnecessary, even an obstacle to this end, so Yui had allowed herself to be guided to these communal urinals, much though they did not look anything like urinals, at least to Yui's rather extensive and cosmopolitan definition of a privy.

In truth Yui was feeling naked and exposed on a level that she had never previously known before, as out of her depth as she had ever been in her young life, and not just because of what she and the pink haired C'thuwulf had shared the previous evening. Knowing that her companion was unapologetically ogling and admiring her nude body was like being left totally exposed and vulnerable in ways she had never allowed herself to be before, and not just because of what she had discovered within herself while submitting to the charms of another woman.

She was about to ask what she needed to do when she glanced down at the circle upon which she stood and saw it begin to glow as though registering her presence. Before she could ask what was about to occur a cylinder rose up from the floor to encircle her, even as another half descended from the ceiling, the two halves meeting around shoulder level and forming a perfect seal that did not even appear to form a line to mark its existence.

Yui was going to ask what was happening when the cylinder began to fill with a fluid that smelled oddly like a broth in a soup mixture, and before Yui could even gasp an exclamation she found herself totally immersed in the broth, gasping reflexively for breath as she had not even had time to hold one.

"Just relax and go limp," Trout's voice amazingly came through the clear liquid, "You can breathe in there, that's an oxygenated fluid. It's meant to enter your body and it will clean you out, flushing away any impurities build up inside your system."

"Oh?" Yui asked, and was amazed to find that she was breathing perfectly normally. She watched in amazement as Trout unhesitatingly stepped up to another circle and was soon contained in another cylinder full of the chemical batch. Trout seemed relaxed and totally at ease as she floated within the broth, her body as limp as it was supple.

Yui wondered what was going on here when she felt a pulse passing through her, and then the muscles in her bladder began to relax on their own and she felt her own body going limp as both fluid and solid waste mater was ejected. The fluid circulated to rapidly flush the impurities away, and this process continued even as more fluid and body mass was ejected from system and removed from the cylinder, leaving her floating in a pure aqueous solution that flowed throughout her body.

Then the process reversed itself and she felt the fluids being ejected from her lungs and bladder. The fluid was sucked away, leaving the cylinder bone dry. Warm air then flowed around her body, drying out her hair and body in seconds. No sooner was this process done then the cylinder divided back into halves and withdrew once more into the floor and ceiling.

"There we go," Trout smiled as she emerged from her own capsule, "That wasn't so hard on you, was it? And I'll bet you feel all tingly all over and as fresh as a spring daisy."

"W-What was that?" Yui blinked.

"A specialized kind of Revitalizer," Trout explained, "Your body was scanned and monitored while you stood within the tube and your personal needs were evaluated and determined. It only took a minute and a half, but the process will leave you feeling fit to go for many hours yet to come...much more sanitary and efficient than squatting down over one of your Earth benjos...and believe me, I've tried them! What the heck do you people do with all the tampons and toilet paper?"

"Um...well..." Yui reluctantly conceded, "I suppose that does make sense...if you're an alien..."

"Hey, I may be C'thuwulf, but I was born right here on Earth," Trout smiled, "I'm one of the new generation of my people, and the Earth is as much my home as it is yours. My parents may come from outer space, but I work right here on Earth to help with the integration program that's bringing our people closer together."

"Oh...sorry, I didn't mean any offense..." Yui apologized.

"That's all right," Trout said as she slipped an arm around Yui's waist, "I'm not offended, and I think you're very cute the way you're trying to understand us. Tell me, do other Earth natives have cute little fangs like those, or are they to better enable you to bite me?"

"Bite you?" Yui blinked.

"Like one of those blood drinkers we hear about...Vampires, I think you call them," Trout smiled, "Do you want to bite me? I wouldn't mind it from you, really."

"Um...no...I'm not a vampire," Yui replied, "I have...Oni ancestry...on my father's side..."

"Oni?" Trout lifted an eyebrow and then stood on her tip-toes as she seemed to be trying to peer over Yui's head.

"What are you doing?" Yui asked.

"I thought Oni had cute little horns and green hair?" Trout inclined her head, "Guess maybe it skips a few generations...oh well. You never can tell with hybrids."

"Hybrids?" Yui repeated.

"Never mind, poor joke," Trout moved in to snuggle her nude body even closer to Yui's deliberately rubbing her nipples against those of the other girl, which caused a predictable reaction in Yui's own body, "We geneticists have a way of looking at these things that most people find kind of eccentric, so you'll have to forgive me if I'm curious about you, hot stuff."

Yui swallowed thickly even as she fought the urge to move away from the other girl, to make apologies that this was not the time or place for any more such mischief. One would think a passionate night of extraordinarily athletic lovemaking would have satisfied the pink haired girl, but Yui was discovering that such insatiable appetites were definitely contagious. She swallowed thickly as she felt her body reacting with the definite signs of arousal, confirmation that she was, indeed, sexually oriented in such a way, for all her profuse denial of this fact on many a prior occasion.

"You're a geneticist?" Yui asked, then coughed as her voice sounded strange in her own hearing.

"It's my job," Trout replied, "I work under the authority of Chief Scientist Grey, and I'm very good at data analysis of both the human and C'thuwulf genomes. Did you know that there is a 99.9997% genetic compatibility factor between our two peoples? That cinches the theory that we share a common ancestry, at least as far as I'm concerned. It also kind of makes the question of ancestry a moot point...not that I'd mind having the chance to study your genes under a closer scrutiny, gorgeous."

"Oh...really...?" Yui asked, finding herself somehow bent over backwards with the other girl looming over her as Yui stared up at the face of the other woman.

At that moment several more C'thuwulf entered the chamber, chatting away pleasantly about some sort of gossip like perfectly normal schoolgirls from any high school Yui had ever attended. Though her focus was largely centered on Trout, she heard one of the new girls asking her companions, "...Is it true that you're dating that new Earth girl from Accounting...Nami-something?"

"Nanami?" another of the trio grinned, "She's terrific! Got a mind like a steel trap, and what a genius for numbers. I swear that girl could turn anything into a profit."

"What about her friend?" another girl asked, "Is she as much of a grabber as I hear on the grapevine?"

"Fatorah?" the other girl chuckled, "She is SOOO immature...but OOOH, what hands she has...nice and supple, and she definitely knows how to put the moves on you, so you girls better watch your tailbones around her."

"I like her partner, Alielle, a lot better," the third remarked, "She's cute and cuddly...but why do Earth girls have such odd sounding names?"

"You got me there," the first remarked, "I'd think Lavender would be a much better name for a girl like that...but at least she likes to snuggle."

"Yeah, unlike some Earth girls I could mention," the third girl chuckled as the trio took their places, "You so much as make a pass at them and they start crying sexual harassment."

All three girls started giggling as their cylinders closed around them, and soon they were immersed within the same type of aqueous solution that Yui had experienced, only now she got to watch the process from the outside, which proved to be a rather illuminating experience, seeing clouds of biomass being shuttled out of their bodies and down through the bottom of the cylinders.

"Ah..." Yui asked as she managed to slip out of Trout's looming embrace, "Would you mind telling me...just what these things do with all the waste matter?"

"Oh, well...everything around here is recycled for conservation purposes," Trout explained, "So the expended biomass is converted into its raw constituent elements and fed to the hydroponics recovery department for conversion into plant nutrients, which in turn are used to create wafer cakes and other kinds of food stuffs that we eat around here. It's an entirely organic process and it's rather complicated, but you can take my word for it that everything is wholesome and nutritionally balanced. My people have had countless millennia to streamline and perfect the process, so you can bet anything we serve will make you strong and healthy..."

"Which reminds me," Yui said, "Is there any chance that I could have some breakfast before you send me back to my world?"

"You want food, you need only ask" Trout said winsomely, taking Yui by the hand and guiding her from the place, even as the dark haired girl wondered where next her comely companion would be taking her this time, and whether or not she would be getting back her clothing any time before classes began at Furinkan...or if, maybe, some other kind of diversion was in the works that might take her mind further away from wondering what Muku was up to at that moment, a subject to which she dreaded learning any details, especially if they concerned either Rhea or Sakura, either of which she now actively regarded as her competition...though in exactly what way she had yet to fully discover...

Sakura stared at the tube containing the naked form of Troi, wondering what was happening to the Bioroid girl to whom she now felt an inexplicable closeness. Seeing Troi floating motionless like this made Sakura both anxious and uneasy, surprised at the degree of concern that she was expressing towards the girl who had taken her innocence away from her body and opened her eyes to an understanding of herself that she still did not know how to cope with, given that she needed to seriously rethink some of her basic core values.

Troi was beautiful, of that she had been aware from the time of their first meeting...was it only a day or two ago? So much had happened and in too short an interval for Sakura to make any sense of the whole transition. By all rights she should have been angry and resentful towards the silver-haired girl for disrupting the orderly pattern of Sakura's life, for first seducing her and then forcing her to take part in a battle the nature for which she had no prior preparation.

Why than had Troi come to mean so much to her that Sakura would feel such strain and anxiety, not knowing what was happening to the artificial girl and whether or not she had been successful in achieving a mind-link with Troi's wayward half-Bioroid daughter?

She turned her head from Troi's regeneration chamber to the isolation room adjoining the laboratory. There she could see the equally motionless form of Atros floating in an almost identical pod-like chamber, submerged in a breathable solution that maintained vital bodily needs while tubes were attached to naked skin as though lightly probing her in important key places. Sakura recalled what it had been like for her to find herself in such a strange environment, wondering that Troi could take a thing like this for granted, as though it were as natural to her as sleeping on a futon. It brought home again just how alien all of this was to Sakura's way of thinking, and yet now she was a part of that alien world, drawn to it and attached by means far less visible than any tube-like connections. Somehow she knew that Troi was attempting to join minds with the black haired girl, to go inside her own daughter's mind in order to free her from a parasitic presence whose true evil Sakura was only just beginning to grasp.

Unknown to her the others in the room were eyeing Sakura with no less concern than she devoted towards Troi herself, the Bioroid's two older sisters sharing concerned expressions as the churned over the implications of the human girl's strange partnership with their silver haired sibling. Troi was such a wild and independent spirit at times that even Iczer One had trouble relating to her nature, while this Sakura struck both senior Iczers as a more restrained and disciplined sort of character, one given to violent outbursts of temper but who otherwise could maintain a cool regard in battle, in many respects the opposite of Troi herself...and yet those very differences seemed to be blending together in the curious alchemy known to the C'thuwulf as Synchronization.

As if to confirm their suspicions, Silver Grey-Troi's biological mother-  
reported in a low murmur, "Synchronization levels at ninety-eight-point-three and rising..."

"Incredible," Iczer One softly murmured, "To be able to flexibly match synchronization levels without even being aware of it..."

"I'm more worried about what I'm going to tell her father," Iczer Two murmured back at the same level, "How can I face my old Sensei again and tell him that his daughter is now bonded to my little sister? How do I explain it to her mother...or to Sakura herself? She can't know what she's getting herself into...she's just a child by human standards..."

"So was I when I first met you, Duella" Sayoko noted back, "And Nagisa was hardly a month older the first time she synchronized with Unas."

Both Iczers winced at the new nicknames that had been bestowed upon them by their own partners, but they were sage enough not to voice any complaints aloud as they continued their vigil, lending silent support to Troi, who was even then engaged in a battle the likes of which they could scarcely even imagine, though against the spirit of Big Gold they knew that every advantage that could be afforded to Troi had to be extended if she were to have any kind of success in accessing Atros, the child Troi had not even known that she had until mere hours ago, and yet for whom she was now willing to risk everything, her life and sanity, her very existence.

For such a noble endeavor they could only stand back and witness events as they unfolded within the battleground of the mind of Atros, that and silently pray to the spirit of all Creation, the ancient mother of their long-lost homeworld whose spirit lived on in her children, and whom the C'thuwulf collectively knew only as "The Mother," lost to the annals of time but cherished just the same and never forgotten. Only she could help Troi now...only she and an untrained partner who hardly even seemed to be aware of the curious destiny that fate had anointed upon her breast. And so the senior Iczers watched and waited in silence, sharing the warm sentiments that their partners were radiating in the hopes that Troi somehow knew that others cared for her and were wishing her the best as she went one-on-one with the lethal virus that had destroyed their cherished homeworld...

Troi opened her eyes and stared around at the unfamiliar surroundings, and then she huffed a little and said, "Figures...I'm in the gray matter already but there's nobody home. It's as barren as the subspace field here when nobody's bothered to tidy up in a while."

"That may be so, child," she heard the voice of Grey speaking into her mind via their own private connection, "But proceed with caution just the same, and don't trust to any appearances. The same rules apply here as they do in Subspace..."

"Right," Troi acknowledged, "In other worlds what you take with you is what you see in this place...it's all a product of the will and imagination, right?"

"Partially so," Grey assured, "But there is a will at work here which is consummately evil. Don't underestimate the power that Gold can wield in her thought-form state, and remember...what you believe can affect you physically...if you take damage here and believe it, then a sympathetic reaction may be registered on your own body..."

"Swell," Troi replied, glancing around at the vast gray plain with a rosy sky overhead that her mind constructed as a relative concept, "Well, if nothing's real here but what I believe in, then I'll just have to disbelieve anything Gold tries to use against me."

"It's not that simple, child, as you well know," Grey assured, "Objects in Subspace only have as much reality as we invest in them through our subconscious, but now you are in an environment where the subconscious will is an absolute fixture, and Gold has had far more time to adjust herself to this particular environment. You will be playing by her rules on her home field, as the Earthers would say..."

"Got it, Mom," Troi replied, "I'm not exactly a rookie here, so just let me figure out what's..."

The sound of childish laughter caused her to break off in mid-thought as she turned to see a pair of diminutive forms running happily up a trail that had not been there before, two young girls rough six years of age, one looking much like Troi had been when first released from her incubator, while the seconds...

Was a six-year-old Atros!

Troi opened her mouth to say something but found that nothing would come out, nor could she make a motion to intercept the two laughing children as they went running by, playing a game of tag and behaving just like regular Earth children. Troi watched them pass with a disquieted expression, reminded all too visibly of what she had been like when she was that relative age...ages ago by her frame of thought, but still vividly remembered.

"Troi?"

"Yeah Mom," Troi numbly replied, "That was...weird..."

"In what way?"

"I just saw myself as a kid...playing tag with Atros," she explained, "Almost like we were best buddies..."

"That may be how she imagines you in her subconscious," Grey replied, "Atros was revived with partial memory of the time when you became friends, just prior to her death. Gold has overlaid her own false persona on top of those memories, but surely some fragment of the Atros you knew is in there..."

"I gotcha," Troi blinked, "So maybe my kid still thinks of us that way, only the part that's in control still wants to kill me."

"More than that," Grey said, "Atros is, effectively, a child in every sense...she was created from your imprint, but she lacks your full memories and awareness of what it means to be human."

"Excuse me?" Troi blinked, "Care to run that by me again?"

"When I chose to create you from my seed and the Iczerio," Grey elaborated, "I did not hatch you full-formed, the way Gold created Iczer Two. I could have made you full adult at the start of your self-awareness, programmed into you a semblance of your sister's general knowledge...but instead I opted to have you grow and develop as a child...as an Earth child. I wanted you to have the experience of growing up like an infant who gains knowledge and awareness as you matured and developed. You have gained an insight to life that neither of your sisters have ever known simply because you have grown from child to adulthood like a human. That means you have an almost human perspective, and against that Atros can have no relative basis..."

"I get it," Troi replied, "So, she may act like an adult but she's still a kid inside her...only why does that sound so much like the way Two usually describes me?"

"Pay no need to any sisterly rivalry that may pass between you two," Grey replied, "She loves you well, and both of you know it. She was born an adult and can never know the world from a child's perspective, but Atros is a different case, and without Gold's programming..."

"Yeah, I copy," Troi replied, "So...maybe that's how I'll be able to tell them apart in here...only if I see any white rabbits with stop watches, I'm leaving."

Grey's soft chuckle was heard resonating in her mind, "You see? You understand such things because you enjoyed human stories when you were little. One and Two might not so quickly get the reference, while Atros...and even Gold..."

"Are stuck without a clue, huh?" Troi smiled, "I can work with that..."

All at once she sensed a presence passing over her, and instinctively she reacted to a perceived attack that was already being launched before she had time to fully turn and confront her opponent. Troi felt the slash against her side as it seemed to go right through her battle armor like a hot knife through butter, but-fortunately-the claw-slash did nothing more than grace her rib-  
cage.

"YEEOUCH!" she cried as she fell into a defensive crouch, "What the Frel was that?"

"Troi?" her mother inquired with a genuine tone of alarm.

"I'm okay," Troi replied, "Sucker just winged me a bit...hardly even felt her move...she must be using some kind of stealth attack mode..."

All at once she felt the attack come again, but this time she was ready to dodge it, vaulting backwards into a handspring before righting herself and falling into a battle stance. Unfortunately her feet appeared to land on something soft and yielding, which trapped her up by her ankles. She had only just begun to react to this when something else rose up from behind her and ensnared her arms, pinning them as she fought to free herself from the entrapment of an inky black mass that seemed to be composed of nothing but protoplasm and tendrils.

"Hey-LEGGO!" she cried as she struggled in vain to break free of their embrace.

A shape took form from the dark morass before her and then Troi looked up in dismay as she saw the face of Neos Gold rearing up in front of her, large as life and twice as nasty.

"WELCOME, ICZER THREE...WELCOME TO MY NIGHTMARE!" the marked form crowed as she extended claws as sharp as scythe blades.

"Oshit..." Troi went round eyed as she saw the claws rear back to deliver a blow that could not be avoided...

Sakura gave a start as she saw Troi's body spasm unexpectedly, and then all at once there were rust colored clouds leaking from her side as a series of reddish claw-marks raked the Iczer's hide just below her left breast, leaving dark orange stripes that looked deep and brutal.

"What's happening to her?" Sakura asked in dismay, feeling almost as though those claw marks had taken a bite into her own skin in sympathetic echo.

"Troi is experiencing an attack in the virtual frame of Atros's mind," Iczer One replied with no little hint of anxiety in her own voice.

"The fool is feeling it as if it were a real attack and causing a feedback that's being extended to her real body," Iczer Two said more grimly, "Judging by the angle of those marks, I'd say she just missed being eviscerated..."

"This is bad," Nagisa said in worried tones, "If Gold is getting to her this early on in the probing..."

"Yeah, imagine what could happen to her if they really go at it?" Sayoko winced, "Poor Troi..."

"The wound is healing itself," Grey reported calmly, "But...I fear Troi may have underestimated Gold's treachery and cunning. She seems to be holding her own for now, but if the regenerator wasn't maintaining her vital signs at stable levels..."

All at once Troi rocked back in the tube, her body flexing backwards as another stripe appeared, this time slashing downward across her belly. Her limbs reflexively spasmed again as more bright ochre fluid began to fill the tube, quickly shuttled away as if the particles were being magnetically drawn out of the chamber, even as those brownish stripes began to disappear like magic, only to have fresh claw marks appear about her arms and shoulders.

"Hold on!" Sakura pressed her hands and body up against the tube as she shouted, "Don't let her get to you! Fight it!"

All at once Troi's body began to relax once again as a faint golden halo appeared around it, magnified by the bio-fluid. The stripes disappeared and all other outward signs returned to normal, though to all appearances Troi appeared to be once more in a comma...only now Sakura could feel her struggling inside against her invisible adversary.

"Vital signs are stable," Grey reported, "But she is manifesting what-in a human-would be an unusually high adrenaline surge, and by all indications she is manifesting a high level of combat readiness."

"Troi must be in hell in there," Nagisa said.

"Gold's really doing a number on her," Sayoko agreed, "Isn't there anything we can do to help?"

"We can't help her," Iczer Two said grimly, nodding to Sakura, "But she apparently is. Her Synch levels are now well over the ninety-nine percent mark..."

Sakura blinked as she heard those words, then turned and said, "Is there anyway I can get inside there with her?"

"What?" Iczer One responded.

"I want to know if I can get hooked up like Troi," Sakura repeated, "She needs me, I can feel it...she's all alone in there, and that Gold monster is attacking her from multiple levels..."

"And what do you think it is that you can do about it?" Iczer Two replied, "The battle field is one of the mind and imagination, in which you are not qualified nor trained to handle..."

"I'm a Saotome," Sakura said firmly, "I can handle anything...with a little practice! Besides, I'm already in there...I can feel everything that bastard is doing to her! I can't wait out here doing nothing, I'll go crazy!"

"You're doing everything you can do just to remain where you are," Nagisa said reassuringly, "I know how hard it is to wait on the sidelines, believe me, but if you want Troi to come out of there alive, you're going to have to remain here and serve as her anchor..."

"Screw that!" Sakura snapped, "Are you gonna let me in there or what?"

Two shook her head, "I cannot authorize something as irresponsible as that. Troi is risking herself by being in direct contact with the Gold Virus, and there is every chance the feed between them might leave her vulnerable to being taken over..."

"But still...if that were to happen, then it might affect Sakura indirectly," One noted somberly, "The risk is great either way...I don't see how we can deny her this...she and Troi have achieved almost perfect Synchronization."

"A partner is a partner, right?" Sayoko asked, "To the bitter end, come hell or high water."

"We may as well let her try," Nagisa decided, "I know that, if I were in her place, I would never be able to stand by and watch you go through such agonies, Ichi-chan."

"Nor I you," One nodded softly before turning to Two, "What is your verdict, Sister?"

"My opinion remains unchanged," Two replied, "It is reckless and could cost both of them their lives. If Gold were to take her over, Troi would have no chance whatsoever..."

"But you're gonna let her do it anyway, right?" Sayoko smiled confidently.

Two sighed as she glanced down, "I will never be able to face your father again if you do this and do not come back alive..."

"You've got a choice of facing him later or facing me now," Sakura said in a tone like flint, "What'll it be...Sugar?"

Two turned to Grey and asked, "Your opinion, Doctor?"

"If it can save Troi and Atros...then it is worth any risk," Grey replied, "But...child...you may think you know what you're getting into, but you have no idea of the type of environment you face..."

"I face challenges every day and I've never backed down from any fight," Sakura said with true Saotome stubbornness in her voice, "I'm going in there, and no one had better even think about stopping me."

Grey nodded somberly and said, "I have already prepared a chamber in just such an event. Somehow I had a feeling you would choose to do this, and in my line of work it never pays to discount a possibility. I can have you prepared and ready to merge with the Etherstream in around two minutes. Assuming Troi can hold out that long..."

"She'd better," Sakura said curtly, turning a glance towards Troi's cubicle before adding in undertone, "Hold on, Sugar...help's on its way, and you're about to get yourself a shot of one okonomiyaki anti-body. That stupid virus had better clear out of my way before I rip it out of you one molecule at a time."

Somehow no one doubted the word of this particular Saotome, for there was something in her stance and demeanor that suggested that an irresistible resolve had formed, and suddenly Troi's prospects were looking a whole lot better even in the eyes of Iczer Two, who smiled faintly as if seeing the silhouette of another Saotome in the background of this brown haired reflection of her former Sensei. Foolish or not, the girl definitely was a warrior at heart, and Two felt a curious sense of pride in that realization, even if she feared the worst for a human girl about to go where even Iczers might fear to travel...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/C'thuwulf HMO Care Plans: shadowmane

Troi faces her deadliest challenge ever as she struggles against the Gold Virus, but will Sakura be able to turn the battle in her favor, or will this be a case of, "Abridged Too Far," or "Twilight of the Golds?" Be there!

X -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	21. Chapter 21

Earthchild21

The Earthchild

(An Iczer/Ranma/SM crossover)

by Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi,  
Toshihiro Hirano, Naoko Takeuchi &amp; Others,  
With ideas inspired by the illustrations of Johannes Huber...take a bow, people!)

Chapter Twenty-One.

"Here we are, Jubaan High School, just as I promised."

Rini nodded in satisfaction and turned to her tall blonde escort and said, "Domo arigato, Nami-san. I appreciate you giving me the lift, I'd hate to wind up having to explain being absent to my teachers, let alone my parents."

"You could always tell them that I kidnapped and ravished you in the privacy of my own demesne," Nami teased the younger pink-haired girl, "That sort of thing seems to happen on a lot of high school campuses these days."

Rini had to smile at that, "More than you'd ever believe...but this is the first time I've ever thanked a kidnapper for showing me such a great time. Of course my parents would kill me if they found out I lost my innocence with an exotic dancer..."

"Ah well...what can I say in my own defense but that you were too irresistibly sweet a morsel for me to pass up?" Nami smiled, "I know I behaved wickedly in stealing your cherry, but I've rarely tasted a finer flavored virgin than you, and I've deflowered quite a few in my time."

"I won't ask for details," Rini chuckled softly, then paused as she grew more serious and asked, "Is there...any chance I might get to see you again? I'd love to see you dance..."

Nami touched the younger girl's chin and said, "And I would love nothing more than to dance for your benefit, my Princess. Consider it a command performance when next I see you..."

"Hey Rini, wait up!"

The pink-haired Senshi turned to see one of her best friends approaching her and said, "Hello, Naoko...what's up?"

"What's up with you?" the curly brown haired girl replied, looking past Rini towards Nami, who stared back with an unreadable expression, "Who's the Amazon, your Aunt or something? She looks a little like your mother."

"Really?" Rini mused as she turned back to Nami, "I never noticed-what's wrong?"

Nami's eyes were narrowed to the point of slits, and in a single word she spat out, "Venomoid."

"Huh?" Rini looked around, "Where...?"

"Right here!" Naoko cried as she lunged forward, having gotten within easy reach of the pink haired Senshi. She tried to grab the Moon Princess by her arm but something flared up in her path at the last second and she was rebounded off an invisible shielding.

Naoko went sprawling as Nami wasted no time pointing her bracelet at the other girl, and before the teenager could move she was trapped within a scarlet beam that surrounded her body and caused her to arch her back with a cry that was inhuman.

"Stop it!" Rini cried, "What are you doing?"

"Watch and see," Nami replied as her bracelet shifted to a purple colored beam, and then Naoko all at once vomited something up which landed on the ground a meter away, shaped like an acorn of some kind and very nasty looking.

Nami narrowed her beam and shot the acorn, which was only just beginning to sprout tendrils, disintegrating the seed before it had time to sprout into something far more menacing. In seconds only ash remained, that and the still body of Naoko, who was by now quite unconscious.

Nami killed her beam then said, "She'll be all right," she reached into the side of her dress and pulled out a capsule of some sort then went over to the fallen girl and injected her with something, "This will neutralize any trace of the Venomoid seed still in her system. That was a close one...another few seconds and your friend would have been lost to you forever."

"W-what do you mean?" Rini asked in a trembling voice, "What was that thing?"

"Pure evil," Nami said as she lifted the girl into her arms without apparent strain or effort, "The Venomoid are an ancient race of Xenomorphic shapeshifters...they spread their seed by infecting living organisms with their deadly spores, which incubate within the body until they are ready to hatch out, in which case they totally overwhelm the host organism and corrupt the DNA into a copy of their own vile essence. Caught in the early stages there is no danger of a relapse, but if I had not acted in time to prevent the transformation...she would have gone forever, with not even a trace of her own pattern worth burying in a coffin."

"Horrible!" Rini put fingers to her mouth, "I've never seen anything this evil...and I thought I'd seen a lot just battling Youma..."

"There is a relationship between the Venomoid and your Youma," Nami said as she began to carry the young girl towards the school building, "Or at least we suspect that they have a common source...by the way, which way to the infirmary? Your friend here is going to need some rest if she is to recover."

"Over this way," Rini pointed, hurrying to match the long stride of the powerful blonde woman, only to halt as three more students exited the bushes to stand athwart their path.

"So you think you've seen terror before, do you?" one of the students asked in a very inhuman voice, "Just wait until you see us in our true forms."

All at once the trio began to shake, their bodies splitting apart as their outer skin was shed like a snake's skin, revealing hideous black and ochre shapes with overly large eyes that filled the space where a human face would be, and each one sporting dark tentacles that seemed ready to ravish young flesh, and not merely for vicarious pleasure.

"Damn," Nami murmured to herself, "I was too late this time...it's my fault...damn you all!"

She set Naoko down and straightened up again, never taking her eyes away from the Venomoid menace. The creatures tried to advance on them rapidly, to overwhelm them in a rush, only to be repelled again against the invisible barrier that seemed to surround the tall blonde as it repelled the monsters, leaving both Nami and Rini untouched and well protected.

"You are going to be sorry that you did this in front of an Iczelion warrior," Nami balled her fists, "Black Unit-Charging-!"

Before she could finish her words another voice cried out, "JUPITER THUNDER CRASH!" at the same time an almost identical voice cried, "MORNING STAR STRIKE!" and seconds later the Venomoids were struck by twin blasts, one consisting of a concentrated sound wave, the other shaped like an energy mace with projecting points that blasted the hideous creatures and exploded them into fragments.

Rini stared round eyed as bits of monster-flesh struck the energy globe surrounding her and Nami and harmlessly slid off. The three creatures lay prone on the ground, badly mauled by the twin attack, even as two new forms leaped into view, both clad in Sailor fuku and sporting a weird glamour about their bodies that prevented positive identification.

"Guys?" Rini hesitantly asked upon recognizing the duo.

"More friends of yours, I take it?" Nami asked.

"Europa!" cried one girl, while her companion echoed, "And Io...we're the Sailor Senshi of Justice! Attack our friends and you face the combined fury of both Jupiter and Venus!"

"Thanks for the rescue!" Rini said, "But how did you know...?"

"Are you kidding?" the girl on the left asked.

"Half of the students in school heard that explosion a minute ago," said her companion before both girls chorused as one, "And who's your tall friend? She looks a little like Mom..."

"Ah...not quite," Rini knew that it was not an appropriate time for blushing, but she could not help feeling her face warm slightly at the thought that she had made love to a woman old enough to be one of her Aunts, "We met last night...kind of a long story behind that..."

"Never mind all of that just now," Nami said somberly, "Be on your guard...the Venomoid are still active, don't allow them to infect you or you will be lost, too, forever."

"What do you mean?" one of the twin girls asked.

"Can't you do something to change them back?"

Nami shook her head sadly and replied, "No, once a person has been taken over, there is nothing that I can do for them but to put them out of their misery. There is nothing left of the people they were but Venomoid filth, and if left to themselves they'll only wind up infecting more victims until your whole high school...no, the whole city will be taken over by such space trash!"

She began to gesture with her braceleted arm when Rini put a hand over her wrist and said, "No...I know of a better way. Allow me to do this."

With that the pink haired Moon Princess reached into some invisible space and held up a jeweled mirror in one hand and intoned the words, "MOON ILLUMINATION MAKEUP!"

All at once her body went momentarily nude, then a light shown around her that transformed her outer appearance into something more fairy-like, a fuku-clad Princess whose diadem-shaped tiara spouted hair ornaments that looked a little something like roses. She held her mirror aloft in both hands and spoke in words that oddly resonated over the campus, "MOON HEALING ESCALATION!"

At once a light shone down from the mirror to bathe the stirring Venomoids, who cried out in dismay as their forms were engulfed in the shimmering pink illumination. All at once their bodies changed before the eyes of those who could witness the transformation, momentarily gaining a double-image as one part separated from the other, the darker half shredding apart like chaff in the wind, leaving behind the human aspects, who slumped to the ground and lay still thereafter.

"You see?" Rini asked as she lowered her mirror, "There is a way to take out Dark Kingdom trash without having to kill anybody."

Nami stared in open amazement, then softly said, "Black...did you see that?"

(Saw and recorded, Mistress,) came a voice in her mind, which only she could overhear, (This data could prove invaluable to our efforts to resist Venomoid infiltration...it will be relayed to headquarters for further analysis).

"Good," Nami nodded slowly before taking in the fuku-clad twins and saying, "Sailors Europa and Io, I presume?"

"The very same," one tall girl replied.

"Who were you talking to?" her twin also wondered.

"My shadow," Nami smiled before nodding to Rini, "Mind helping me take these others somewhere safe where we can talk? I rather imagine we have much to share in common between us."

"You read my mind," Rini smiled, turning to the twins, "Guys...you think you can manage with the boys? I'll handle Ryonako."

"You're leaving us the boys?" one of the twin girls asked.

"Are you feeling all right?" the other echoed.

"Just fine," Rini replied as she lifted the fallen girl into her arms, even as Nami opted to sling Naoko over one shoulder in a fireman carry in order to keep her left wrist (the one with the bracelet) clear in case it was needed, "It's just that you two are a lot stronger than me, and those guys are heavy."

"It figures," one twin sniffed.

"What are we, pack animals, Princess?" the other girl retorted, but then the twins exchanged smirking looks and easily hefted the two boys (who were quite handsome) over their own shoulders as their group ignored the stares from other students and made their way towards the school Nurse's office.

Unseen by this odd quartet, however, a figure in black stepped from the shadows and spoke into her wristwatch, "Agent D here...Central, we have a Code Blue Xenomorphic infestation at my location...request dispatching a containment unit for cleansing and sanitizing the infected area..."

"Jubaan again?" came the exasperated voice of the creature on dispatch, "What is it about that place that attracts all of the weirdoes?"

"Hey, you tell me and you can win a million Centauri Zamoulas," D turned to her partner and said, "What is it about this place that all the Dark Kingdom Youma and other extra-dimensional riff-raff always choose to show up here?"

"Can't really say, Slick," Agent Q replied, with a shrug, "If I knew that one I'd earn my promotion. What do you say to that one, P?"

The comments the other Woman In Black directed were towards a small quadrapedal form hunched down by her ankles, one that wore a surprisingly thoughtful expression on his snout as he replied, "You got me there, toots...magnetic resonance, a strange arrangement of the cosmic lei-lines...you take your pick, all I know is that almost every would-be world beater and galactic tyrant has been stomping down the gates of this place for the past several decades. I've lost count of the number of wanted A-class criminals in the Galaxy Police files who tried to make a name for themselves in this place and wound up biting it big time..."

"Well, it's not really relevant to the situation in hand," Agent Q said as she reached into her blouse and pulled out her Neuralizer, "First thing's first, we need a media blackout before any cameras show up here with nosy reporters asking about this latest Youma incursion."

"Talk about your never ending thankless tasks," D grumbled, "We should get overtime for this...it's the third time this week we've had to do this."

"Comes with the turf, Toots," Agent P sniffed with amusement before sobering again as he added, "I think I'll follow a lead of my own...got a cousin who hangs out at a local Shrine, he might know something about this...if I can find him. Unfortunately the poor sap got himself soul-bonded to a guy who can't find his way to the privy without a seeing eye dog."

"Sounds messy," Agent Q turned to her partner, "Might as well get this done before we get any older, Slick."

"Like you say, comes with the turf, Partner," Agent D agreed before they went to work dealing with some inconvenient memories from the milling throngs of students...

At that precise time, situated in another prefecture...

"Here you are, Muku-chan," Rhea said as she indicated Furinkan High School, "On time, just as I promised."

"Thanks," Muku smiled back a bit shyly, "I had a great time in your world...I'm sorry if I couldn't stay and...well...gotten the grand tour, or something..."

"New Gamora will be waiting for you any time you wish to visit," Rhea promised, "You have only to ask...it's now as much your home as mine."

"Ah...well..." Muku read the unspoken part of that offer in her companion's green eyes, and she was about to say something to the effect that it sounded...nice...when Rhea surprised her by asking another question.

"Muku-chan," she said a she turned to scan the passing throngs of students (who gave Rhea a passing glance of curiosity, even though the latter was not wearing her usual armor but had adopted clothing similar to that tried on in the dress shop, "What is it like...attending school classes?"

"Huh?" Muku blinked, "Don't you know?"

Rhea shook her golden head and said, "C'thuwulf do not need formal education...most basic knowledge is downloaded into us when we are incubating and stored away for general access. Any new learning comes from free-flowing discussion seminars that we can attend with our peer groups...I have often interacted in such social circles back home, but most C'thuwulf citizens tend to regard me with a bit of awe, I'm afraid, because I am an Iczer."

"But...you do have a social life back home, right?" Muku asked, "You've got friends you grew up with?"

Rhea nodded, "I have friends at home...like Salmon and her sisters, Pink and Trout. But...as I say...I have never been as close to anyone as I am to you, Muku-chan. You are my first and only partner, and besides..."

"You're a Bioroid with a lot of super powers, huh?" Muku paused, then added, "And your folks are celebrities...one of your mother's practically the President of your whole people."

Rhea nodded, "A human saying comes to mind...it is lonely at the top. As close to others at home as I may be, they can never entirely divorce from their minds the fact that I am the daughter of the Lady Protector...something closer to a Messiah in the eyes of my people. I wish that I could have more natural relationships, such as you enjoy with your friends at school and in the dojo."

"Ah...well...I'm not sure that I'd call my friends exactly 'normal,' but I think I know what you mean. So...you've never attended a high school before?"

"No," Rhea replied, "There is nothing like it in New Gamora...although it is common for young people to apprentice themselves at an early age to study groups and as lab assistants. We tend to mature a bit earlier than you...a process of our skipping the early phases of infancy, where humans learn to crawl, toddle, walk and talk for the first time. We emerge from a generation chamber roughly equivalent to six years old, by your Earth standards...and then we grow naturally from that point onward..."

"Sounds like you're missing a lot that way," Muku murmured, "I don't remember too much about my first six years, but I know a lot of important stuff happened, and I don't think my parents would have missed that for anything."

"Mine either," Rhea replied, "Of course I lived those years in Virtual space, growing up and forming bonds with my mothers whenever they entered their regeneration chambers during their sleep cycles. We have a vast cybernetic community that thrives when people are inactive in their bodies...our time isn't wasted in the same manner that human sleep appears to do..."

"Yeah, well...that's be great if I could do my homework while I was sleeping..." Muku started to say when a shadow fell over her, causing her to look up with a startled, "Nani?"

All at once Rhea moved, shoving her out of the way as a heavy object came crashing down upon her, the Bioroid barely having time enough to get her arms up in the way before she was smashed into the pavement by a heavy trash bin that must have weighed a ton at the very least.

"Oh, too bad...we only nailed one of you," a familiar voice called out, surprising Muku, who whirled in time to see Gel and her brother, Godai, standing there a short distance away, looking smug and somehow more sinister than usual.

"What did you just do?" Muku cried as fear caused her to be torn between Rhea's plight and the obvious threat posed to her by the Kunos.

"Nothing too much," Godai replied, "Probably didn't even scratch the paint on your little wind-up toy...observe."

"Huh?" Muku asked, only to go round eyed as she saw Rhea stand up, tossing the trash receptacle to the side as though the massive thing weighed no more than a breadbox. Rhea's street clothing was a bit torn and soiled in places, threatening to land her with a case of "indecent exposure," but there was a look in her eyes that had rarely been there before...raw anger! Bruised and battered through she was, Rhea was otherwise unhurt and quite obviously ready to leap into battle.

"That...almost hurt," Rhea growled, her large eyes almost luminous with outrage, "How dare you attack us when our guard is down you...cowards!"

"Tough words for a Tinker Toy who's about to be broken," Godai smiled as he extended one hand, which was promptly filled with the crimson gleam of a beam saber, "Shall we dance?"

"What?" Muku was shocked to see the thing that Godai was gripping, but Rhea calmly spoke to her in sotto-voice, "They are not the Kunos you know...something has transformed them...Gold or Neos, no doubt about it."

"They're not...Gel and Godai?" Muku asked as she, too, fell into a defensive stance.

"Wrong," Gel sneered, "We are Godai and Gel Kuno...but we have been improved into more effective fighting units. No longer do you face a pair of weak and easily distracted humans, Android, but rather a fighting team that will destroy the both of you without working up a sweat."

Her hand lashed forward, only this time Rhea dodged out of the way in time to avoid the energy whip that had been aimed for her body. She landed a few meters closer to Muku and then cried, "Unit Six-Nine-TRANSFORM!"

"Charging up, as per your instructions," a voice responded in Muku's ears.

"Wha...?" Muku started to say when all at once the air around her became electrified, and she felt the familiar transformation coming over her as her school uniform vanished, replaced moments later by the plated sections of her Iczelion armor, and then the equally protective sheet that went between the sections of plating.

No sooner had she transformed into armored warrior mode but Gel came leaping at her, lashing out with both hands as twin energy lashes sizzled the air and threatened to gouge those sections of her body not protected by armored plating. Muku moved as though this were a typical ribbon attack, only to find the lashes moved more like snakes and hissed about one arm and leg, snaring her as she felt the hot bite of these whips through the otherwise insulated body-suit that she was wearing. She was slammed down to the already cracked sidewalk with force enough to gouge a small crater, but other than this she was surprisingly unhurt, the armor itself taking the worst of the brunt of her impact.

Rhea was currently too occupied trading slashes with her beam saber against Godai to come to Muku's assistance, the formerly human male proving surprisingly skilled and adept with his new weapon and testing Rhea's own battle-hardened reflexes to their limits within a matter of seconds.

"You dance well, my lady," Godai cheerfully taunted when their beams locked together in a tight clench, leaving their bodies only inches apart, "But I'll wager you'll dance even more beautifully when you are on the point of my lance."

Rhea found herself stiffening with an unexpected reaction, finding herself close to a male of the human species, which ordinarily would have imbued her with preternatural shyness, but in these circumstances caused her to tense up in actual revulsion. She lost a bit of her edge for a moment, which gave Godai all the leverage he needed to break their clench and them attempt to slice her down the middle.

Rhea got her saber in the way in time, but she was off-balance and could not brace herself against the force of his blow, which knocked her sprawling and caused her to lose her grip upon her saber. She got back to her feet, only to find herself weaponless as the boy prepared to charge her directly. Godai grinned as he sensed victory in the offing, only to see Rhea point her hands down as she released an energy discharge that shattered the pavement and sent chunks of asphalt scattering in his direction.

Godai paused to deflect these fragments with his saber, but this gave Rhea time enough to spot-teleport to where her own beam saber was resting point-first in the ground. Retrieving her weapon, she whirled about and slashed savagely at Godai's unprotected back, scoring a direct hit against his spinal column, but instead of penetrating the thing met a force screen and was rebounded.

"What?" Rhea gasped as she staggered back a couple of paces.

"Surprised, my ladyship?" Godai leered, turning about with his beam saber once more at the ready, "Did you think I would be so easy?"

"Not really," Rhea said as she recovered from her surprise, reaching down and producing a second beam saber, then crossing the beams before her as she added, "But it would seem that you are in no position to question my humanity, Cyborg."

"I am more than a mere machine like you, my dear," Godai nodded sagely, "Come try me if you wish to see the perfection that is my new body."

"I am not machine," Rhea replied, "And I am not your dear anything, and as for perfection, there is only one whom I acknowledge that, and that is Muku-chan!"

"Ah, there I must concede that you do have a point," Godai mused, "But not for too much longer if my dear sister has her way, I imagine."

Rhea risked glancing at the parallel fight going on between Gel and Muku, all too aware this time that the Kunos had been prepared to fight them on a level more worthy of a duel of Iczers, which caused her to silently curse herself for the fool that she knew that she was. Obviously leaving the Kunos alone in that park while unconscious and helpless had been a gross tactical error, and now they were all paying the price for her carelessness, courtesy of Gold and her evil facilities whose stolen technology was almost the very equal to that which had given her birth.

Almost, however, only counted in thermonuclear exchanges, and though Gel's tricks had now been augmented with deadlier hardware, still Muku's own natural battle prowess was greatly augmented by her Iczelion armor, armor that was partially alive and could feed to Muku some hasty instructions informing her of its capabilities and uses. Muku rapidly learned not to question the gift horse she had been given, finding it almost natural to shift from an energy lance to the armor's powers of levitation, gaining some altitude in order to deflect those energy lashes that might otherwise had cut a normal person into sushi. Muku battled away an energy hoop that struck a statue in passing and sent the former Principal Kuno tumbling to the ground, in the process just barely missing a group of awe-struck Furinkan students.

"Hey!" Muku cried out, "Leave the civilians out of this! Your fight's with me, Gel!"

"There are no civilians...nor innocents in a war, fool!" Gel retorted, holding up a pair of energy globes that she handed like they were juggler's pins and sending them soaring in two different arcs which converged upon Muku.

Muku spun her energy lance and battered the energy globes away, but as she did this her mind was forming an astonishing conclusion that greatly assisted her in the battle. Gel-no matter how over the top her behavior could become at times-would never have consciously or willingly endangered an innocent bystander in one of their battles. There were limits to their challenge matches that even the most determined opponents would observe as a commonly shared principle of Budo, which meant that the Gel in front of her was not the one with whom she routinely sparred...not even mentally...someone else clearly having taken over.

This was good for several reasons, not the least of which was Gel's innate tactical brilliance as a martial artist and her ability to form strategies that often tested Muku's natural resources. Whoever was piloting her brain obviously was leaving her higher facilities on automatic pilot, and whoever was in charge was someone a lot nastier and more ruthless, but far less imaginative in her attacks than the purple haired Amazon whom Muku knew-not so much as a friend-  
-as a peer and one-time childhood playmate.

Of course there was still enough of Gel Kuno in there for Muku to have some royal satisfaction at an anticipated butt-kicking. No sooner had she deflected the energy balls but then she hurled her lance at the ground in front of Gel, knowing it would have been dodged had she aimed for her foe directly, though her armor was informing her of what would happen when the lance and the ground made forceful contact together.

The explosion caught Gel by surprise and kicked her up like a leaf in the wind, tumbling her backwards and momentarily off-balance. Muku wasted no time forming another energy lance while rocketing forward to strike at Gel while the girl was still in-mid-air, only to encounter an energy shield, which deflected her attack to the side.

"What?" Muku gasped as she recoiled backwards.

Gel landed without effort on her feet then turned to regard Muku with a sneer, "Did you think I would fall that easily? You are about to get a rude surprise, my dear...and one you have long deserved...Muku-dearest."

All at once the air shimmered before Muku's astonished eyes, then the next thing she saw was a fist the size of a small house rocketing towards her. She felt the savage backhand through her armor as the rest of the cyclopean form stepped through the gap in the folds of subspace.

Rhea turned to see what had emerged into their world and gasped, "No way!"

"Oh yes way," Godai grinned, "May I present to you our own powerful armor that will spell the doom for you and the C'thuwulf...meet the Blue God of Death himself, Holokhan!"

Muku opened her eyes past the spinning stars and pin-wheels in order to take in the sight of a towering form that looked remarkably like ancient feudal samurai armor, only so massive that it seemed to tower like Mount Fuji over the Furinkan campus. Compared to it an Iczer Robo was a mere dwarf, though how anything so big could move, let alone hit so hard, she did not even want to contemplate.

"You have got to be freling kidding me!" she gasped, not realizing at the moment that she had just used an entirely unfamiliar curse word, and at the moment not even caring...

Troi had thought herself in desperate straits when the unexpected surge of energy bolstered her strength and resilience by a factor of ten, giving her just the power she needed to shrug off the tentacles that were seeing to contain her and move at the last possible second to avoid being disemboweled by a vicious claw-strike by Neos.

"Ow," she winced as she felt the stripes get painted across her unprotected belly, "That smarts, you asshole!"

"My apologies," Neos replied as she launched a series of even more vicious claw attacks, which Troi dodged and deflected with some effort, "Next time I won't miss you, and I'll eat your heart and dine on your liver!"

"You've got some seriously disturbed dietary habits, you know that?" Troi said as she switched tactics, letting one claw pass her by so close that she could feel the imaginary wind kicked up by the blades as they came close to shaving off one of her forelocks, turning her body slightly to the side as she lashed out with the back of one fist and drove her hand solidly into the armored chest of the onrushing Neos.

The force of her blow was easily conveyed through the layers of armor protecting the virtual internal organs of the imaginary Neos, setting her up for when Troi could drive her knee into the guts of the serpentine creature. Neos staggered backward from the imaginary attack, giving Troi the opening for coming in with a sidewinder-kick that might have cut a lesser Bioroid in half, but for Neos springing back to life and absorbing the blow-and the leg-in the next second.

"What?" Troi gasped as she fought to free her foot from the grip of Neos.

"Foolish child!" Neos sneered, "In this realm it is the Mind that prevails, not merely the body!"

And with that Troi found herself being driven into the ground face-first like the proverbial tent peg. She had just begun to recover from this when Neos threw her back like a whip and slammed her against the ground again, kicking up a virtual storm of dirt and rock at the crater that was thus created. Troi reeled a bit from the double-impact as Neos wrapped her snake-like arms around her body and began squeezing.

"Now I'll absorb you into myself and make you a part of my greater perfection!" Neos sneered into her ears, even as Troi found herself sinking into the body of her adversary.

"Hey. Let go!" Troi helplessly thrashed against the monster, feeling her strength begin to be sapped out of her frame and into Neos. Her energy levels were plummeting fast and she lacked the internal power to free herself from containment. In desperation she cast her mind out into the void seeking for energy lines that she might draw strength from to replace her dwindling power...

...And felt the raw surge of an emotion inside herself that wholly surprised her, originating as it did from well outside her own system.

Troi wasted no time plugging into this new power, letting it surge into her weakening limbs as her body converted the emotion into raw energy, and through the alchemy that was the Iczerio force within her she began to glow with renewed integrity, shrugging off the foreign virus!

"I SAID LET GOOO!" she snarled, breaking free from Neos and doing a rapid tumble in-mid-air as she summoned up her beam saber-lances, double-slashing in a backward direction before somersaulting into a more upright position.

"IMPOSSIBLE!" Neos cried as fracture lines appeared across her body, "There is no way you could do that!"

"Surprised myself with that one, Neos," Troi smiled as a fissure line cracked the mask of her enemy and left exposed the face of the machine that lay behind it. A second later a second fracture line across her middle divided her in twain and them she burst apart into four separate sections and exploded into fragments, leaving nothing more than dust in her passing.

"Good riddance to bad rubbish," Troi sniffed as she turned away from her fallen foe, "NOW COME OUT WHERE I CAN SEE YOU, GOLD! This is between you and me, and I'm not letting you have my daughter!"

"FOOLISH ICZER," another voice taunted from above, "HAVE YOU LEARNED NOTHING YET ABOUT THE FIELD OF THIS PARTICULAR BATTLE?"

"What are you...?" Troi started to say when she felt the snake-like arms go around her once again, Neos holding her firmly in place this time as Troi belatedly got her hands up in time to intercept the scorpion tail that sought to impale her.

"Did you think you could destroy me that easily?" Neos taunted, "I am immortal! I will always come back to destroy you!"

"HEY, no way!" Troi grunted as she fought against the monster, "You cheated!"

"There are no rules for this level of combat," Neos replied, "Only victory or death are the spoils for each contender!"

"Is that a fact?" Troi grimaced, then all at once she surged with energy and fought free of her entanglement, twisting her body as she drove the tip of Neos's tail into her chest, letting the Bioroid have a taste of her own poison while Troi sneered, "Does that mean I get to kill you over and over again? Groovy! I'm game for a repeat match!"

Neos's cry was heralded by her own swelling up as the poison exploded her insides and turned her into a paroxysm of agonizing pustules. A second later she mercifully disintegrated, only to reform again some distance away, more wary this time but even more livid for vengeance than ever.

"Man, don't you ever try anything else?" Troi sniffed, "How many times are you gonna hit the reset button before you get the message that I outclass you, loser!"

"This battle is far from over!" Neos sneered before she began to divide herself into two distinctly different parts, which divided themselves accordingly into two more seconds, and so on until sixteen Neos Golds surrounded Troi on all sides, each leveling a tail drawn back for a stinking.

"Man, this is getting so lame!" Troi growled, "Are you deliberately trying to waste my time here?"

"DIIIEEE!" the ring of Neos cried as sixteen deadly tails came spiking in with energy glowing from the tips of their needles.

Troi seemed not to move at all as the tails struck her position, but rather than inject her with their venom they passed harmlessly through her body while Troi herself moved like a blur with hands becoming all but invisible for several seconds. Then she teleported a short distance away and smiled at her own handiwork while the sixteen Neos Golds all struggled to free themselves, finding their tails all jointly tied up into bow-knot.

"Perfect!" Troi grinned as she summoned up an energy lance, then she hurled it horizontally as it curved around the ring of Neos then boomeranged back into her outstretched hand. The Neos ring all cried out in dismay and exploded in their collective middle sections, detonating like a ring of firecrackers while Troi made a fist and cried a triumphant, "STRIKE!"

"VERY RESOURCEFUL OF YOU, AND QUITE CLEVER," Gold's voice rang down once again, "BUT I HAVE FAR WORSE IN STORE FOR YOU THAN AN ENDLESS RECYCLING OF THAT DEFECTIVE BY-PRODUCT."

"Yeah?" Troi sneered, "Bring it on! You set them up, I'll take them down, including you, you stupid virus!"

"Is that a fact?" a new opponent asked.

"Then try your hand against us, we dare you," a male voice spoke this time as Troi found herself being bracketed by two armored forms who were disturbingly familiar.

"Not the Grey twins again!" Troi winced, "Don't you have any original minions to throw at me? This is so Last Season!"

"You won't think yourself so lucky when you deal with us for real," replied Cross, the female Cyborg responsible for numerous acts of space piracy and terrorism.

"Our counterparts outside will be wrecking their havoc while you are trapped in here dealing with us," noted Chaos, her even more sinister twin brother.

"Huh?" Troi blinked, "You mean you losers are making a comeback? Hell, you weren't even a match for Nagisa wearing an Iczelion the last time! No way the two of you can be a match for...me...?"

"You were saying?" Chaos smiled as his form expanded in size and became more titanic.

"Let us see how you deal with us in our transformed state," Cross mused as she, too, grew to gigantic proportions, "AND LET US ASSURE YOU IN THIS INSTANCE, SIZE REALLY DOES MATTER!"

"Nani?" Troi winced, finding her analogy to the adventures of an Earth girl named Alice a little more telling at that moment...

Sakura could hardly believe that she was doing this, but floating naked in an egg-shaped cubicle with tubes attached to her skin was beginning to feel much less alien to her than the last time. She was waiting for Sister Grey to finish making the last adjustments to her control panel, though from Sakura's perspective it looked like nothing so much as the pale-haired scientist passing her hands over the empty space above the panel, as it working controls that were invisible to anyone else (either that or she was conducting an invisible orchestra to the accompanying sound of a few bleeps and whistles).

"Troi's biosigns are intensifying," the blonde Iczer One reported, "As though she were in pitched battle."

"It figures that idiot would treat this as some kind of video game for her benefit," Iczer Two growled, "It would be just like her to exhaust herself while Gold tests her defenses in order to infiltrate her virus."

"You say that in an angry voice," Nagisa pointed out, "But you're not fooling anyone, Ni-chan...we all know you're just as worried about her as anyone else here."

"I am worried that our combat efficiency might be greatly diminished if that little idiot doesn't come out of there hale, hearty and uncontaminated," Iczer Two insisted, "We need all our warriors to be battle ready and proven, and Troi-  
-for all her many faults-is an effective fighting unit...I would be remise if I didn't note that."

"And besides which, she is our sister," Iczer One pointed out with a softer smile that earned a sheepish glance from her redheaded sibling.

"This is not just about family," Iczer Two stiffly pointed out, "If Gold were to take her over, and maintain control over Atros...they would have between them the combined power to level this whole facility...not that we would permit them to go that far, of course."

"Besides which, you'd miss having her around to snap at and get under your skin," Nagisa chuckled, "Why not just come out and admit that you like her-in spite of the way you two bicker like sisters, Ni-chan?"

"Watch that 'chan' business around my partner," Sayoko bristled, "I still haven't completely forgiven you guys over Nova, and you did seem to be enjoying each other rather a lot last night, and don't think I wasn't watching."

"Ah..." Iczer Two had a suddenly VERY nervous expression as she eyed her official partner.

"Yes, I was kind of thinking the same thing myself, as a matter of fact," Iczer One pretended to sound casual as she smiled, but her crimson eyes were flashing with something other than amusement, "Maybe you two would make good partners after all..."

"Hey, wait a minute," Nagisa protested, "You and Sayoko sure seemed to waste no time getting down to it, so who are you two pointing the finger at anyway?"

"Good question," Sayoko turned to her fellow Iczer-partner and leered, "One that needs settling by an official challenge, don't you agree?"

"I couldn't agree more," Nagisa turned back to Sayoko with a matching leer, "It's a matter of honor, of course...your partner and mine...shall we say, after dinner?"

"Why wait that long?" Sayoko countered, "How about we celebrate after Troi whoops Gold's ass and frees YOUR daughter?"

"Fine," Nagisa nodded, "It's a date, then, and may the better partner win."

"Huh?" Iczer Two looked blankly at the pair, then at her equally confounded sister.

"What did they just agree to have us do?" One asked with a worried expression.

"I don't know," Two confided as she leaned closer to her older sibling, "But odds are we would be wiser to nod our heads and agree to it unless you feel like sleeping solo in your Iczer Robo for tonight."

"Good point," One sagely nodded.

Sakura was amazed at hearing this dialogue from the Bioroids and their human side-kicks...if she didn't know any better she would have sworn that they sounded like long-term married couples, with the Iczers cast in the roles as hen-pecked husbands. It reminded her rather much of the way her father tended to nod his head and go along with whatever her mother proposed, risking a Spatula to the face if he argued, and yet the feeling was so natural here that she found herself warming up to the odd quartet, reckoning that they would not make half-bad in-laws...

She stiffened on that thought then self-exclaimed, (WHAT AM I SAYING?).

"We almost ready to initiate a convergence," Sister Grey announced, "You do realize that where you will find yourself is in a realm of the mind and imagination, where what you believe is real will have substance and value, and if you lower your guard or believe in your own demise it could create a powerful effect to your own body?"

"I've got it," Sakura said, still amazed at being able to talk while submerged in the odd tasting (but not entirely unpleasant) bio-fluid, "Let's get on with it already."

"I just wanted you to be as prepared as I could make you," Sister Grey replied, "I've taken the time to study the fight being waged between Troi and the Virus...Gold is attempting to distract and wear her down so that she reacts to shadows instead of going to the real source of the problem. In doing so, however, Gold has unwittingly exposed her flank and given me the input I needed to analyze the structure of her encoding. It took this long to break it down to its key constituent components, and that had given me the key to creating an Anti-Virus that could potentially unlock and destroy the program."

"You've created an Anti-Virus for Big Gold?" Iczer One said in amazement.

"Unfortunately no," Grey replied, "Not as such...Gold's original program is far too complex and multi-layered to be neutralized in such a simple manner. If that had not been the case, then we would never have lost control over the World Computer back on C'thuwulf Prime, and our race would not have been exiled. This bug, however, is only a mere fraction of the total Gold program, necessary as the space it occupies in Atros's memory receptors is much too finite to store the whole thing. The Anti-Virus, which I am sending with you, will contain a set of specifically keyed programs designed to unlock and destroy the Copy, thus allowing you and Troi to purge the virus altogether from her system. However...you will need the full cooperation of Atros if this is to be ultimately affected...her mind must be unlocked as well before she can reject the influence of her false parent."

"I...think I got all that," Sakura said nervously, "But...how will I be able to carry it with me?"

"I will inject it with you into the matrix," Grey replied, "It will take the form of an icon or a symbolic object, which you will then transport with you until you find a terminus in which to feed the program into Gold directly. This might mean getting uncomfortably close to her, but you seem to be a resourceful enough young lady, and if you can withstand her tricks and deceptions you might actually stand a fair chance of assisting my daughter...your new partner."

"Ah...temporary partner...I think," Sakura said tentatively, then relaxed, "Okay...whenever you're ready..."

Grey nodded, passed her hand over her console again and said, "Now."

All at once the room seemed to zone out for her, and Sakura felt herself falling backwards into a long, inky pit, only to awaken once again as she instinctively rolled and got her feet underneath her, then landed with a resounding "Thump!" on solid ground...or semi-solid, to judge by the slightly squishy feel of the place.

At once Sakura's mind clothed her body in the garb of an Okonomiyaki Chef, complete with bandoleer of throwing spatulas and her baker's peel resting comfortably across her back. She felt somehow better armed this way than appearing fully naked, and as she turned to look around she found herself inside a gigantic cavern of some sort, oddly reddish colored with a gray, featureless plain that had many craggy indentures as though the ground was oddly indented with all sorts of mini-trenches.

"Can you hear me child?" she heard a voice say into her ear, the voice of Sister Grey, she duly noted.

"Yeah...I hear you," Sakura answered, "I'm in some kind of a cave...no sign of Troi yet."

"Just follow your instincts and you should be drawn to her by the connection between you," Grey replied, "Be ready for anything...and you should be seeing the Anti-Virus appearing beside...it could be a glowing ball of energy, or any object you choose to interpret it."

Sakura glanced around and found the ball of energy floating by her without effort. She reached out with a hand to touch it and found it transformed before her eyes into a flat disk, which became an okonomiyaki, marked with a toppings-  
imprinted letter of kanji.

"Got it," she said, tucking the okonomiyaki inside her shirt for safekeeping, "So, I just have to find this Gold character and feed it to her, right?"

"That may be difficult, as such," Grey remarked, "Gold may not even have a mouth...it all depends on which version of her you encounter."

"Terrific," Sakura replied, casting her gaze around until she felt a tugging sensation in one direction, and-as she looked that way she saw something...like a golden cord of hazy light...which stretched off into infinity and seemed to center at one end upon her breastbone.

"Follow the yellow brick road, huh?" Sakura mused, only to blink her eyes in amazement as the golden line settled down upon the ground and transformed itself into a glittering brick pathway, to which she remarked, "You've got to be freaking kidding!"

"What was that?" Grey asked, "Did anything just happen?"

"Ah...nothing," Sakura mused, "So...what I think here has meaning? That's a first. Well...I'm off to see the wizard, and if I see the Wicket Witch of the West, I'll be sure and bop her one for you."

Outside of her chamber Grey turned a puzzled look towards the nervous Iczers and their partners, only to receive a sympathetic look from them in turn that as much as silently said, "Don't look at us, we can't entirely figure out human either..." a sentiment which they rather noticeably did not choose to air in front of their partners...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/C-Hardrive Failure Notes: shadowmane

The battle for the mind and soul of Atros is about to become an all-out threesome, with the fate of Troi and the C'thuwulf hovering in the balance...so be with us next time for: "Yellow Brick Mayhem," or "We MUST be Off is we want to see this Wizard!" Be there!

X -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	22. Chapter 22

Earthchild22

The Earthchild

(A Ranma/Iczer/Sailor Moon Crossover)

by Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi,  
Toshiro Hirano, Naoko Takeuchi &amp; Others)

Chapter Twenty-Two.

"Here you are, just like we promised," noted Kawai as they materialized near to the Furinkan campus, "Your high school awaits, and there is just enough time for you to get to your classes."

"Gee, thanks," Yumi grinned, "You guys are better than a taxi service, which is more than I can say for firebreath here, who can't go ten feet without relying on her seeing-eye ravens."

"Laugh all you can," Yui grunted, "But you'll be facing just as many questions when you get to your home as I will, and I don't even want to think about having to explain what we were doing last night instead of our homework."

"Aw, you always turn yours in late anyway," Yumi teased, "The teachers are used to it." She turned back to the Iczelions beside them and said, "I can't believe an Idol singer like you moonlights as an armored knight working with a secret outfit like this..."

"We all have our private secrets and masks that we hide from the world," Kiiro responded with a friendly smile, "After all, your parents were helping to save the planet along before we acquired our armor..."

"If anyone here should be collecting autographs, it's us," Kawai noted, "Nagisa used to have such a crush on Sailor Moon that some of us teased her about her sexual orientation...and then Iczer One showed up and confirmed those suspicions."

"Yeah, and now it's like she's been a muff-diver all her life," Kiiro softly chuckled, "Not that such things are unusual when you live among the C'thuwulf as long as she has..."

All at once she glanced down at her bracelet, which began glowing the same time as Kawai's, causing both Iczelions to stare at them with mutually concerned expressions.

"What is it?" Yumi asked, "Is something wrong?"

"Apparently so," Kawai said as she touched her bracelet and said, "Kawai here, go ahead."

"Kawai, we have movement on your location, just a quarter click away from your position," responded the voice of Sister Saffron, one of the monitors back at Gamora base, "It's a full fledged attack, and it's being centered on Rhea and her partner!"

"What, again?" Kiiro asked, "Don't these guys ever give it a rest?"

"I guess that's why we call them the bad guys," Kawai noted, "They have no respect for propriety or a personal life."

"Guess that means we go back into action," Kiiro sniffed, and then she raised her arms and cried, "CHARGING UP!"

"Charging up!" Kawai echoed at a more even tone of voice, than then-right before the eyes of the two astonished Senshi, they transformed as their armor appeared and attached itself to their (momentarily) nude bodies, flashing as synthetic skin filled the space between the armored sections, transforming them once more into the Silver and Gold Iczelion warriors.

"Whoah!" Yumi exclaimed, grateful that they were standing in an area with low visibility from the level of the school campus, "That must really be a show stopper for your stage act, but we have something similar to that in our arsenal, right Yui-chan?"

"What, now?" Yui asked.

"C'mon, it's between friends here," Yumi grinned as she raised her hand and cried, "MERCURY STAR POWER TRANSFORMATION!"

Yui just sighed and raised her own hand, "MARS POWER TRANSFORMATION!"

The two Iczelions blinked their eyes as a weird kind of nimbus energy surrounded the two teenaged girls, and then they saw their counterparts briefly go nude before their outer garb was transformed into their Sailor Fuku costumes. The girls even fell into rehearsed stances, like action figures posed before a photographer, with Yumi declaring herself, "SAILOR HERMES!" while Yui just clapped her hands and became two people, one of whom called herself, "SAILOR DEIMOS!" while the other one echoed, "SAILOR PHOBOS!" and struck matching poses that emphasized their twin status.

"Wow," Kiiro remarked, "You girls do that every time you go into action?"

"It helps set the mood for when we need to fight Youma," Yumi-that is, Sailor Hermes-replied, "Of course I give a boost to Yui-chan here by helping to trigger her Twins curse. The great thing is we're protected by a kind of glamour that keeps regular people from spotting and identifying us, which is real handy when you want to preserve a secret identity from our classmates."

"Let's just get this over with," Yui One-or rather, Sailor Deimos-declared.

"Standing around and missing the action just isn't our style," Yui Two-Sailor Phobos-echoed.

"Fine by us," Kawai noted, rising up from the ground as she went into flight mode, "Just follow our lead and try to stay out of trouble."

"After all," Kiiro replied as she, too, rose into the air to follow her partner, "We do this sort of thing for a living."

"Hey, what are we, limp sushi?" Sailor Hermes turned to her companions and said, "What say we show these old-timers how we fight the enemies of the Moon Kingdom, partners?"

"I'm for hanging back and letting them take the brunt of the action," Sailor Deimos remarked.

"They can be the ones to get battered around while we study the enemy and learn their techniques," Sailor Phobos added, "For once let somebody else take the brunt of the initial charge instead of us."

"You guys are no fun at all," Sailor Hermes sniffed, "Where's your pride in the Sailor Senshi?"

"On my list of priorities, slightly behind getting our butt kicked before we even know who we're fighting," Deimos retorted.

"Still, she has a point," Phobos argued, "I never like sitting on the sidelines when there's a fight going on, and I know you don't like it either, sister."

"Who cares?" Hermes retorted, "We're falling behind while you argue about it. Let's just go in there and do our thing, right?"

"Check," both versions of Yui replied as the three of them took off at a leaping stride, vaulting over walls and buildings in their effort to catch up with the two Iczelions, who even then were "scoping out" the opposition.

"What the hell is that?" Kiiro asked as she and her partner stared at a warrior robot that stood easily on a level with the legendary Gojiro.

"Some new kind of Mecha armor, obviously," Kawai deduced, "Only much larger than an Iczer Robo."

"I'll sure say it is!" Kiiro blanched, "It looks like a Sumo when compared to a middle school judo expert!"

"I'm making it at over a hundred and fifty meters!" Kawai sounded unusually disturbed as she said this, her natural calm sorely tested by the sheer size and scale of the monster, "That's well beyond the recommended size threshold for an Iczer Robo...but it's internal mass and constitution suggest that it is a lot more than just another enemy Mecha."

"Kawai, I'm making out a detailed scan of its internal construction," a voice echoed in her ears, "Whoever made it wasn't even concerned about shielding it against scans...that thing is like a living bomb set to go off if someone activates the trigger!"

"What?" Kawai blanched.

"I am confirming that analysis," an almost identical voice registered in Kiiro's ears, "The enemy is packing a tremendous amount of ambient energy, but every center is keyed to maximum at a level that will inevitably cause major power ruptures all across the board, resulting in catastrophic failure that could have an effect roughly one thousand times as great as a thermonuclear warhead."

"In other words someone has overclocked it to make it exceed design specifications?" Kawai asked.

"But why in the hell would anyone do that?" Kiiro blanched, "If that thing is nothing more than a walking timebomb..."

"It could be set here as a trap to lure the Iczers to attack it in their Iczer Robos," the voice in her ear replied, "It will explode anyway when the power within it builds to a critical level, taking out a good sized chunk of the island of Honshu itself, or-at the very least-vaporizing everything within a fifty kilometer radius."

"But why?" Kawai asked, "That would hardly penetrate the shielding that surrounds Gamora base..."

"Yeah, but it'll wipe out everything else in the whole Tokyo area!" Kiiro blanched, "This thing is a literal monster, designed to wipe out the Iczers!"

"Affirmative," her inboard computer confirmed, "We are talking about a no-win scenario here...on the one hand the Iczers could ignore the threat, in which case humanity suffers..."

"No likelihood of that," Kawai noted, "They would risk their lives to protect the people of this planet, just as we would do in their place."

"But how the hell do we fight it?" Kiiro asked, "Our Iczelions don't have enough power to match this kind of a monster!"

"That is correct," Gold Iczelion replied, "Not even the combined energies of a full squadron of Iczelions can match the power readings that we are making out from this enemy unit."

"But that's no reason to say die," Kawai said grimly, "Gamora may be my new home, but I have family still living in Tokyo, including my parents!"

"I haven't even spoken with mine since I went on to become an Idol singer," Kiiro sniffed, "But I'm with you entirely...we can't let the destruction of Tokyo happen!"

"We need Nami's assistance for this," Kawai decided, "And any other Iczelions not presently engaged in other matters. Silver unit...open a channel."

"As you wish, Kawai," Silver Iczelion answered, already relaying the emergency signal to Black Iczelion's coded channel...

"Really?" said Reiko (or was it Meiko?) Kino, one of the twin pair of perky golden-haired teenagers who had earlier presented themselves as Sailors Io and Europa, but who had transformed into a matched set of unusually tall and very pretty girls, the kind who would raise the interest level of just about anyone who found the fair sex attractive, "You work for a group of aliens who live in an underground city on this planet?"

"Ah..." Nami wondered how in the name of all sanity she had let that little tidbit slip through, but Rini seemed to trust her friends and valued their opinion enough to directly answer a question about where she had been to the previous evening. Bad enough to be slinking about on school grounds with children less than half her own age like some perverted debutante out to rob the cradle (and never mind that she had just spent the night with one of these girls in question) but to have security blown like this, and in such a casual manner...it made her feel positively amateurish!

"Yeah, it was incredible," Rini replied, "Like Crystal Tokyo, only right here and right now! Of course the aliens aren't really invaders, more like guests of the world governments who share a part of their super-advanced technology, and-  
-get this-they're all women!"

"You mean like...totally?" asked an excited looking mint-haired girl named Karma Meion, who-like the twins themselves-had a secret that made her something more than the unusually slender and whip-like young girl that she appeared, "No men at all?"

"Nope," Rini assured her incredulous friends, "They reproduce artificially by splicing together the genetic code of two women, just like your parents somehow did when they had you, Karma. They didn't even have to use a Jusenkyo curse like your Dad did, Kino-chan."

"No Jusenkyo curse?" Reiko asked in surprise.

"They don't need any men in the picture?" Meiko added, "But doesn't that get...kinda boring?"

"Anything but," Nami felt prompted to say, "After a while of living there you hardly even notice they're gone, and in a woman-only society things tend to work out just the same as if there were two genders."

"I find that part hard to believe," Karma replied, "Surely a society of women wouldn't make the same mistakes that guys do all the time?"

"You would be surprised about that," Nami chuckled, "But...on the whole, it is a rather regimented society...in so much as that it promotes personal freedom but still maintains a very close social dynamic. I wouldn't call it socialist or any other form of earth politics like that, but it probably comes the closest to that Marxist ideal-never realized in true Marxism-of each person being assigned according to her needs and recognized for her personal talents."

"And this has been going on for how long?" Karma skeptically asked.

"Ten years on Earth," Nami replied, "Many thousands of years back on the C'thuwulf homeworld."

"Wow," Reiko marveled, "They must be pretty advanced if they made it all the way out here from their homeworld."

"Of course they're advanced, Silly," Meiko chided her twin, "You think people could come from another planet by hitchhiking their way here?"

"Let's...not go there, shall we, girls?" Nami smiled, knowing these young things would not get the reference, "Instead let's concentrate on you not telling anyone about the C'thuwulf or anything else that Rini shares with you about her visit. I know you would do well not to divulge their existence to the public at large..."

"Are you kidding?" Rini smiled, "We all know how to keep a secret here."

"We grew up with secrets in our homes," Reiko explained.

"Our parents have secret identities, you know," Meiko added, "And we'd hardly blab about that."

"Still, you should expect that we would wish to confide in them about your hidden society," Karma noted, "It may prevent future...misunderstandings between your adopted people and the Senshi."

"Yeah, that goes without saying," Rini turned to Nami, "And I think I know my folks well enough that they'll probably come prying about you guys, in which case...I don't know what I should tell them."

"Why tell them anything?" a new voice intruded on their private conversation, and Nami whirled in time to see a pair of women wearing black outfits, one of them holding up an ominous-looking pen-like device with a cheerful, "Watch the birdie, ladies!"

Nami hastily averted her eyes, knowing full well what the flash of light would mean, but there was no time to take any special steps on behalf of her teenaged companions. They were caught full-in-the-face by the Neuralizer, a highly advanced piece of alien technology whose basic intention was to erase memories and leave one in a highly suggestible state for several critical seconds. Nami personally hated the things, even though she understood their effectiveness and the security needs that mandated their existence.

"Now then," the woman-who was also wearing black shades-calmly set her device back into a pocket of her lapel, "We're with the Department of Hazardous Materials, Department Six. Nothing special happened here, or the previous evening. You went to spend the night at a friends and went straight to school from there with nothing exceptional occurring in the..."

"Excuse me," Rini interrupted the woman in mid-sentence, "But are you on drugs or something? I know where I was last night, and nobody else here but Nami was with me."

Agent Q blinked her eyes from behind her special neural protective shades and seemed momentarily at a loss for words. At her side, Agent D, took up the slack by asking, "You...remember?"

"Why?" Karma asked, "Did you think we were supposed to forget or something? And who are you people anyway...?"

Nami was no less taken aback by that declaration than the two agents, "You remember? The Neuralizer didn't affect you?"

"Effect us?" Reiko asked.

"In what way?" Meiko seconded.

"Oh...I get it!" Rini declared, "I know who you guys are...Mom and Dad mentioned you one time! You're those guys who go around covering up weird stuff so the public never gets know about it! Well, tough cookies for you...we're immune to your little toy there, so why don't you beat off before I get mad and start Moon Dusting your hides!"

"Agents D and Q," Nami spoke up, "It's been a while...too bad it hasn't been longer."

"Agent N?" D asked hesitantly, "Is that you?"

"I haven't been called that in years," Nami sniffed, "I quit the organization a long time ago, and you both know that!"

"That's right," Q recovered her poise, "You call yourself the Black Iczelion these days. Well, no one quits the agency, we just consider you to be taking some extended leave time."

"Like I didn't explain to you before that my mission these days is to help integrate the C'thuwulf into the mainstream public through means that don't involve erasing any trace of their existence?" Nami huffed, "You're worse than S.H.A.D.O. or SHEILD ever were, and at least they have a valid mission to protect the public."

"That's our mission too, even if you've happened to forget it," Q pointed out, "But the public isn't ready to know the extent of alien penetration in our society...and I do take it that these are young ladies of unusual parentage...?"

"What, you don't have a file on their parents?" Nami asked.

"Actually, we do," Q replied, "But nothing in their files suggested that they had this level of neurological resistance."

"Oh...we've had...special protection added to our natural charms," Karma replied, "You think you're the first ones who ever tried to mind-wash us?"

"Hmmm...good point," Q noted, "I think I'd better take this one up with headquarters..."

Nami pointed her hand at the ground before the feet of the two dark-clad women and kicked up a blast that gouged a very small crater out of the soil, roughly a foot in diameter.

"Let's not, shall we?" Nami said rather pleasantly, "I'm much prefer if we keep this among ourselves, better off for all concerned parties, don't you agree?"

D turned to her senior partner and said, "Gotta admit, she does have a pretty convincing argument there, Q."

"Maybe so," Q said levelly, "But I've faced a lot worse things in my time than a Neural Phase Pulse Blast...especially when those things have safety locks to prevent them from being used on real, non-contaminated, baseline humans..."

"Who says you two pass for baseline human?" Nami asked with a pleasant smile of her own, keeping her bracelet trained on the two agents.

All at once the bracelet pulsed, causing D to jump slightly from a case of nervy tension, but Q quirked an eyebrow and said, "I think you'd better answer that, it looks like an emergency call from the way it's pulsing."

"It is," Nami ignored the agents and touched her bracelet, "Nami here, go ahead."

"Nami-drop whatever you're doing, and get over here quick!" came Kawai's unusually emotional summons, "We're facing a real big one this time, and we'll need every unit we can muster to contain this!"

"I'm on it," Nami replied, turning to nod to the two agents, "We'll continue this another time, after I go stomp on whoever is plaguing the Earth this early in the morning."

"Count on it, N," Q replied, "Just remember, once an Agent, always an Agent."

"Hmph," Nami frowned, just before she vanished into a pixilated halo.

"She can teleport too?" Reiko marveled.

"What a talented lady!" Meiko agreed.

"Oh yeah," Rini said with an enigmatic smile, "Very...talented, no doubt about that."

"Hmph," Q said as she turned away, "And a creature of habit, by the looks of things."

"Huh?" D asked, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Never mind, Slick," Q chuckled, "Some things you're better off not knowing about. Besides, we'll probably next have to get called on to handle whatever hot spot she's 'ported off to, now that we're about done sanitizing this zone, present company exempted, ladies."

The four Senshi girls waited until they were alone again, then Rini asked, "What the heck was that all about?"

"I don't really know," Karma replied, "But somehow I think we haven't seen the last of those two, or whatever department they work for..."

"Oh, probably some Ultra-secret agency of people whose identities have been totally erased, working to protect humanity from exposure to hostile aliens from all over the galaxy," Reiko shrugged.

"Really?" Meiko asked.

"Well, maybe not," Reiko shrugged with a smile, "But you gotta admit, it sounded pretty good, might even be worth doing up as a movie."

"Yeah, right," Rini scoffed, "Like anybody'd pay money to hear a lame-O story like that. C'mon guys, let's get to class, real life's calling, and our homeroom teacher won't buy anybody's story if it means being late again to classes."

"Yeah, I know what you mean there," Reiko agreed.

"Youma and alien monsters are one thing, but Sensei Fujisawa is something else again," Meiko agreed with wholehearted enthusiasm.

"On that we can completely agree," Karma noted as the curious quartet left the shelter of the equipment yard and headed off to the main school building, off to an adventures of their own that are not immediately relevant to the telling of this story...

"Eh?" Muku said as she looked up and up at the seeming never-ending size of the thing, easily reckoning it to be more than half again as tall as an Iczer Robo.

"It's enormous," Rhea said in awe, "But...how can such a thing be? At that size, the power level needed to operate..."

"You simpleton!" Gel taunted with a chilling laugh, "Holokhan isn't just a new type of Mecha, he's a whole new revolutionary development in Bio-mechanical warfare! He's here to utterly crush and annihilate you underfoot, you annoying wind-up doll! And that goes double for you, Senzenen!"

"I don't believe it," Muku exclaimed, "Even you can't be this over-the-top! Bringing something like that to our school, where all our classmates could get hurt...?"

"Like I care about you pathetic weakling mortals!" Gel snapped, "You're not fit to ground into powder beneath my heels! I'll destroy you all in the glorious name of my Master, Big Gold, and then we will go on to conquer the entire universe!"

"That's it, Gel," Muku declared, "You've finally flipped and gone over the edge..."

"No," Rhea replied, "This is not your friend speaking...it may look like her and sound like her, but this is not the Kuno Gel that I have recorded from your memories. This evil is different, more callous and brutal by far, and utterly lacking in either humanity or compassion. She has only borrowed the semblance of your friend..."

"She's not my friend!" Muku insisted.

"No, but she is a childhood playmate turned bitter enemy because of her mingle envy and desire for you," Rhea countered.

"Huh?" Muku blanched, "Not her too?!"

"Is there some reason why she should not desire you...and hate herself for it?" Rhea asked, "But this is not her speaking...I recognize this evil now...it's mark is recorded in my own memories from the time before my birthing...this is Cross, the sister to Chaos, one of the Grey twins who plagued the Earth in the days before the C'thuwulf settled here!"

"So...you think you have guessed my little secret, eh?" Gel-or rather the woman who looked and sounded like Gel-sneered back, "Aren't you the clever one? Well, you haven't even begun to suspect the true depths of my Master's great plans! Behold the terrifying power of Holokhan-!"

"Holokhan?" Muku responded, "Give me a break! That sounds like some kind of silly Bandai toy, like those programs they show to children in the mornings...!"

"More than that," a male voice said calmly in her ears, "This unit was designed to be deliberately defective...all of the restraining devices have been removed, turning it into a giant walking bomb ready to go off."

"What?" Muku asked, belatedly recognizing the voice as belonging to her Iczelion Six-Nine unit.

"Of course, that makes perfect sense," Rhea reacted as if she, too, had heard the Iczelion's voice, "You've created this thing to serve as a giant explosive..."

"Correct," the figure posing as Gel replied, "All the better to destroy you all! Go ahead, summon your toy, Holokhan will crush both you and your Iczer Robo, and then your partner will live long enough to see the destruction of this part of her home planet..."

"What?" Muku was shocked by this callous declaration.

Just then a familiar trio of fuku-clad Senshi came rushing upon the scene, only to halt in their tracks when they got a full look at the towering mass that was the monstrous robot. Sailor Hermes was the first to say, "What in the name of Gatchaman is that?"

"Trouble," replied Sailor Deimos.

"I think we're going to need a lot more Senshi for this," Sailor Phobos sagely counseled.

"Witness the power of Holokhan unleashed!" the false Gel announced, even as the massive Samurai-like visor on the walking armored nightmare began glowing, and then a beam of ruby fire shot from its faceplate to strike at a distant target, instantly kicking up a tremendous blast from the Tokyo region. Of course, as it turned to direct its beam in a lateral arc one of its huge legs brushed against the nearby school building itself and collapsed that portion of Furinkan, as casually as one might do the same thing to an anthill.

"HEY!" Sailor Hermes protested, "That's my homeroom you just wrecked, you big bozo!"

"And you are actually complaining about that?" Deimos asked with a skeptical arched eyebrow.

"At least it saves us having to stand out in the hallway with a pair of buckets," Phobos pragmatically reasoned.

"But someone could get hurt in all of that!" Hermes belatedly stared at the rubble, hearing the cries of fear and panic coming from the building, "We'd better do something about that!"

"Right," both versions of Yui agreed, and the trio turned to the urgency of rescue and away from the more daunting problem of the robot, not having seen Muku hovering overhead, no less dismayed at the act of wanton destruction.

"Unforgivable," Rhea declared in mingled shock and outrage, "You care nothing at all for the lives you waste and the property you destroy!"

"What does a wind-up toy like you know about property?" the purple haired Cyborg before them sneered, "You pretend to be human, and yet you are the creation of science and technology! Your pretense at being half-human sickens me...I will erase the flaw that you represent from existence!"

The lashes that extended from the fake Gel's hands snapped out towards Rhea, but this time they did not even touch her but were instead rebounded off an invisible force-globe that seemed to spring up from out of no where to surround her.

"What?" the fake Gel reacted.

"You understand nothing, Cyborg," Rhea replied, "Merely changing your outer appearance doesn't impress nor deceive me...you have usurped the life of the real Kuno Gel and brought this horror to her world, knowing full well that the real Gel would never be so dismissive of the lives of others."

"Interesting," the one posing as Godai smirked, "She sees through your disguise, little sister. Could it be that there is a brain to go with the face of this particular angel?"

"You are no better than she is, Chaos!" Rhea retorted, with hardly a downward sweep to her eyes, "Kuno Godai, for all his haughtiness, is a man of principle and honor who would never resort to the sort of shameful tactics the both of you are wielding. Even mind controlled he is far more human than you could ever be, which means that you are only using his likeness to disguise yourself, but I am fooled no longer. I know the horror of what you represent, and it sickens me to see the both of you polluting this planet with your very presence!"

"You dare to judge us?" the false Gel sneered angrily, "You Biochemical facsimile? Holokhan, destroy her!"

The visor of the giant flashed fire once again, but this time it met and was repelled by the same globe of force, which briefly became illuminated, surrounding the defiant Rhea.

At about this time the Iczelion corps showed up, not just the three units whom Muku had encountered before but a whole battalion, almost a hundred armored women floating about in near-identical (if color-variant) sets of powered armor.

"Rhea-chan, we are here!" a familiar voice in blue armor reported, and as Muku turned to look she saw a blue armored figure with a mane of white hair (of a very different luster than the silvery haired Troi) leading the assault team.

"Rhea-chan!" another familiar voice broke in, this time from the Silver Iczelion known as Kawai, "The monster robot is actually a bomb meant to destroy you and everything in the Tokyo region...it's a trap that the enemy is seeking to use to destroy all the Iczers in one colossal attack!"

"What?" Muku cried, "A bomb? You mean...it's nuclear?"

"Worse than that," the Gold Iczelion known as Kiiro replied, "It's an Iczerio-  
bomb...far more powerful and devastating than a Nuke, and set to kill everyone in Japan if it builds up a sufficient charge of ambient energies."

"You mean if this thing overheats due to combat stress it will explode?" the Black Iczelion known as Nami reacted.

"It's already entering the red zone and will soon experience a catastrophic cascade reaction!" Kiiro reported, "There's power enough contained there to level a blast in the million gigaton range..."

"That's powerful enough to take out half of Honshu," Kawaii translated, "And the damage it would do to Earth's biosphere alone..."

"That is truly a hideous perversion of Iczer technology," the first speaker in the blue armor remarked, "Gold has outdone herself this time for sure..."

"Stay back, Force Leader!" Rhea suddenly ordered, "Erect a level five containment field over the entire school campus!"

"Understood," the Blue Iczelion replied, "All units disperse and assume a Niven Ring formation!"

"We copy that, Blue Leader," another voice replied, "We'll use our Graviton projectors to create a force strong enough to resist even a Nuke, but that won't do any good to the poor souls who get trapped within its circumference."

"It cannot be helped," the Blue Iczelion replied as the armored warriors moved out to assume a kilometer-wide circle about the monster, "We may have to sacrifice a few for the sake of the many!"

"What?" Muku reacted, belatedly placing the leader as the woman named Cobalt, "But if that thing goes off..."

"Don't worry, Muku-chan," Rhea said calmly, "I won't allow any more innocents to suffer for Gold's evil."

"A mighty tall order to promise that, Rhea-chan," Cobalt replied, "But are you certain that you can deliver?"

"Just do it...Sir!" Rhea added as if in afterthought, "Surround the area and prevent this monster from destroying the city! I will deal with it myself directly!"

"You?" Gel-or rather Cross-sneered in disbelief, "I think not! Holokhan, destroy these annoying pests-NOW!"

The visor of the giant began glowing once again, but so did the robot body itself, surrounding it with a powerful red aura that began to threaten to ignite the whole area, save that the Iczelion corps flew off to assume a ring-like formation to surround the giant creature and contain its deadly field of flame within a force screen that these units created between themselves in the next second.

"What?" Godai-or rather Chaos-said scornfully, "Do they think that a pitiful gravity force field is going to contain the power of Holokhan?"

"Maybe not forever," Rhea replied, "But long enough for Muku-chan and me to destroy you!"

"It will never happen!" Cross gestured towards the levitating Bioroid and her partner, "Swat these insects down and teach them to mind their place, Holokhan!"

The giant extended its hand and knelt down in an attempt to try and grab the diminutive speck that was Rhea, but all at once her form vanished into the hazy silhouette that marked her spot-teleportation, and then a second later the air shimmered about them and the massive form of Iczer Gamma-Theta appeared, even as Muku felt herself being teleported with Rhea, to wind up nude once again and fully immersed in the Bioamniotic breathable fluid of the middle chest-capsule.

"And now," Rhea said in her mind and ear with a deceptively calm manner, "You will witness the true power of an Iczer!"

The outer space around their hull shifted to grey monotones, and as the lumbering giant began to straighten up the levitating forms of Chaos and Cross manifested, still wearing their Kuno guises but now quite obviously a mere imitation of the Gel and Godai she knew.

"WHAT?" Chaos reacted in astonishment, "You've managed to transport us into Subspace...in spite of the inhibitors we've installed in Holokhan to prevent this?"

"This is not Subspace," Rhea replied, "I've taken you beyond Subspace to the Gray Void of Shadows. There is nothing here for you to destroy but yourselves, you who have destroyed many worlds in your insane past rampages! I know full well that you intended to blow yourselves up in order to destroy us, but now that will never happen! You cannot draw my parents into this battle by threatening the world they have sworn to protect!"

"You insolent harpy!" Cross cried, "You think that you can thwart our plans by doing this?"

"I do," Rhea replied, "For I am sworn to be your enemy and the protector of my world and people...both the Earth and C'thuwulf!

"Bold words," Chaos remarked, "Can you back them up?"

The massive giant began to swing a club-like arm their way, but Gamma Theta blocked the maneuver and countered with an outward palm thrust to the chest plate that staggered the giant backwards as though the colossus was momentarily winded.

"I can...and I must!" Rhea declared defiantly, "For I am a child of my mother's planet, and humanity is precious to me. I would sooner die than see you blemish one square centimeter of my mother's world, but more than this, I would destroy you both before I allow you to corrupt and bring harm to the people my Muku-chan cares about! They are humanity, and they are precious to me, and no one-not even Gel or Godai-deserves the fate that you would impose upon my people!"

"A pretty speech," Cross sneered, "Holokhan...destroy them!"

The giant began to straighten out once more, but Rhea struck first by causing Gamma-Theta to lash out from a standing position with a straight roundhouse kick that was flawlessly executed. Rhea followed this by spinning about in mid-air and lashing out with the other leg, which staggered the giant even further and created more space between them. Muku could feel the movement as though her own leg had just come up on its own will to perform the casual maneuver, backed by the force of her own Chi as she almost automatically gave a Kiia, the kind that she might use when breaking bricks with one hand.

The double-kick was powerful but the giant easily recovered, lumbering back up to its full height as it roared, then balled its fists and rocketed forward with a downward pounding strike...only to have its fist be intercepted by Muku s hand-NO-by Gamma Theta's hand (for one movement seemed identical with the other). The other hand was in motion in time to catch the second fist aimed towards her, but her other hand snapped up to catch the fist and contain it. The giant then tried to exert the pressure of its ponderous size and mass as it pressed down against them, but Muku easily held and resisted the attempts of this particular bully, hardly straining at all as the force of her emotions gave her the strength to ignore the exertions of her gigantic opponent.

"What?" Chaos cried, "Impossible! There is no way you can resist us!"

"Your pathetic unit cannot be capable of this level of power output!" Cross insisted.

"Size doesn't matter!" Rhea angrily declared, "It is what you do with it that counts! The heart and the mind are but two forms of the same thing, and they rule over the body by the synthesis of our will...just as Muku and I are joined as one! We are humanity's champions, and far more than the likes of you can begin to comprehend!"

"Rhea-chan?" Muku blinked her eyes at this declaration.

"I love humanity as I love Muku-chan with all my heart and being," Rhea continued, "We are as one spirit joined together in a union that you who sneer at life could never understand! I am as one with my love as I am determined to see your evil banished from our world forever! You've made a tragic mistake in underestimating the power of our union...and now you will learn the folly of your presumption!"

And-upon hearing this-Muku felt something in her heart go out to Rhea, a feeling of overwhelming appreciation and joy at discovering someone whose thoughts and emotions so accurately reflected her own that they could almost have been her own words being hurled at the taunting pair, who were a LOT more over-the-top than the nefarious Kunos with whom she was always striking sparks. These emotions rose up from within her as she felt Rhea's emotions reach out and connect with her through the conveyance of the Iczer Robo.

"What do you know about humanity, you freakish cross-breed?" Cross sneered in contempt.

"She's not a freak!" Muku automatically snapped, "Rhea-chan is more human than you! She's more human than anybody...she's...she's...my friend!"

"Your friend?" Chaos scoffed, "You hardly even know her!"

"I know her better than you!" Muku shot back, "I know she's my friend, and I won't let you insult her...or hurt her either!"

"Muku-chan," Rhea murmured back before her resolve firmed once again, "We are united in one purpose, and combined our energies vastly exceed your estimation!"

"We will see about that," Chaos sneered, turning to the enemy robot and commanding it, "Destroy them now!"

Muku felt as well as saw the massive build up of energies inside the enemy robot as it tried to exert all of its power into their destruction, but rather than fear the impending blast that she knew was forthcoming she instead felt her own anger increasing as the realization hit her of just what had been intended back there at Furinkan, the total annihilation of everything and everyone for kilometers in all directions! Her friends, her family, the C'thuwulf themselves...all were being targeted for ruthless extermination by the creature behind all of this, who had made her recent life an endless stream of intrusions and discord, only to make the incredible mistake of masking their latest evil behind the faces of the two biggest pains-in-her-rear that she had previously known...the pair who had made her mornings an endless stream of challenge matches and social disruptions!

Such feelings were like throwing kerosene on an already lit fire, and as her anger intensified so too did the sense of Rhea's closeness, as though her new friend were almost within reach of her hands. She felt the caress of Rhea's warmth and vitality as it nurtured her own fires and gave her the strength to become something extraordinary...not Muku alone, nor even Rhea, but both of them joined together in one thought, one purpose. The power at their disposal was enormous, but so too was the sense of joy they each felt at the union of two parts, and with this came a sense of invincibility, the knowledge that nothing in the universe could stand against them, and that the pathetic giant monster was TOAST before the power of their union!

Gamma Theta began to glow from within with the light of their pooled spiritual energies, and then the power within them all but exploded as Rhea drove her fury up into the behemoth, driving Holokhan back relentlessly as though their relative sizes had been reversed, and once the monster had begun to give ground she redoubled her efforts, shoving the enemy back before bringing both hands down and forming a beam saber the length of a full-grown redwood, which same she drove upward, slicing into the monster before driving the beam through the center of its hulking chest, triggering the final stage of its catastrophic internal cascade, the accumulated effect of a million tiny micro-explosions.

The result was an unimaginably powerful blast that turned reality inside out and caused everything to turn momentarily black and white to Muku's perspective, even when the cabin shell around her turned opaque to shield her from the worst of the detonation. Everything turned briefly white as the mind recoiled in dismay at the force of the holocaust unleashed by the blast, and for an indeterminable interval she lost awareness of everything external to her self-  
contained protective bio-shell. Only Rhea was real to her, a presence felt without need of being physically visible, her vibrant spirit more palpably near to her touch than touch itself as their union gave comfort and a sense of continuity. The only reality of Muku's world was the cry of defiance that Rhea gave to the forces that might have otherwise destroyed them, and the sense that they had prevailed against an unspeakable monster.

When at last the space around them reverted to something semi-comprehensible once again, their Iczer Robo was standing in the midst of an inferno that did not seem to touch their armored hull in even the lightest sense. They surveyed their surroundings for several grim moments before Rhea drew them away from the place of absolute devastation, appearing again in normal space where they found the pair of Cross and Chaos hovering above Furinkan, the dastardly pair having managed to phase away at the last instant and thus escape the fate of their doomed Mecha.

To say the least, the two imposters (who still wore the outer semblance of Gel and Godai) were less than pleased to see Gamma Theta once again, Cross being the more expressive in her disbelief, crying out, "IMPOSSIBLE! You could not have survived that explosion!"

Rhea was still too angry to answer the challenge in words, teleporting out of her control seat to manifest in the air directly before Cross. And energy lance was in her hand and one instant later she moved beyond the place where Cross had been levitating. The Cyborg hung paralyzed in space for yet one instant more before crying out, "HOW-HOW CAN SHE BE THIS POWER-?"

And then Muku saw the woman's body split down the middle into two halves, these parts exploding much like Holokhan itself a second later as Rhea turned to confront the remaining Cyborg, two energy lances now at the ready.

"Incredible..." the figure (who still looked so much like Godai that-were it not for the fact that he was hovering in mid-air-Muku would have had trouble believing that he was anyone else) declared in tacit dismay, "Where are you drawing your strength? The girl alone could not be the source for so much power!"

"You understand nothing about the forces that lay at the disposal of an Iczer, you Monster!" Rhea coldly declared, "Nor does your evil Master, who toys with forces well beyond her comprehension!"

"Cross was right," Chaos declared, "You talk too much for an Iczer."

Rhea began to move before Chaos had even completed his sentence, her twin lances lashing out in a blinding double-blur that caught and intercepted a number of force-blasts being directed her way from previously unseen assailants. Muku felt the attack as though it were happening to her even as she watched in dismay, seeing Rhea hurl her energy lances in a double-side toss that sent them flying to either side, striking a number of armored robotic forms that had appeared to flank her from seeming no where. Muku watched as the lances tore through the double ranks of the enemy robots, then gasped as she sensed Godai rushing forward with an energy blade of his own in both hands. A weaponless Rhea seemed to confront him as he sought to take advantage of her seemingly disarmed state, but when he thought he had her dead to rights she suddenly flashed with a third weapon in her hands and struck back with twice the speed and fury.

What followed was a classic samurai pose, such as often could be witnesses in many a movie or Manga. Two warriors hovered motionless in the air with swords lowered in the completion of two well executed strikes, their faces smooth and impassive, giving no indication of which of them had just become the victor.

Then Rhea winced slightly, her lovely face taking on the strain of apparent injury, and Muku felt her heart almost stop as she sensed the slight pain in the side of her companion. But then Godai straightened out, turned slowly around and stared at Rhea before raising his energy blade, which dissolved mere seconds later.

"Well played indeed, my lovely Angel," the male Cyborg replied, right before he convulsed in mid-bow, his body spasming in reflexive muscle tension before he exploded altogether, becoming a cloud of self-incinerating flesh and metal that sprayed the air before being carried off on the winds of his own ashes.

"It's done," Rhea said, then she lost her blade and altitude, her energy levels dropping once more as she began to descend towards the ground, her body reflexively going into self-regeneration mode, conserving power by diminishing unnecessary output.

"Rhea-chan!" Muku cried, all but willing herself forward as she found herself teleported from Gamma Theta's chest capsule, appearing on the ground in her faux-school uniform just as Rhea collapsed to the ground beside her.

"I'm...all right," Rhea assured her as Muku threw her arms around the other girl and hugged her tightly, a gesture that brought a faintly wondrous smile to the fallen Iczer.

"No you're not," Muku said almost fiercely, "Don't try to lie to me, I felt you get hurt there..."

"But you saw the other fellow," Rhea attempted in weak humor, "I am sorry to concern you...I know that it was careless of me to let him get so close in his attack, but it only feels as though he cut much deeper than he did, and my body will repair itself within a few hours."

"Really?" Muku asked, "After all...you did so much..."

"It was nothing, really," Rhea smiled, resting her head on Muku's shoulder, "I was too angry to worry about that, but nothing is more important to me than your safety, Rhea-chan...yours and the people you care about...the people of Nerima."

"Huh?" Muku asked, feeling...very odd as she held the other girl's slender shoulders between her arms while hearing that simple declaration.

"I must return to my regeneration chamber for now, but I will return shortly to rejoin you and see how you manage with your school day," Rhea gently pushed away from Muku, her smile becoming more intense as they made eye contact, "What matters is that you are safe for now, and Gold has expended yet more wasted energy in that attack, which means that we may have a brief period of rest before the next attack comes our way."

"Are you...sure about that?" Muku asked.

"As certain as I can be," Rhea replied, "But our enemies have no respect for propriety or place, so...it is possible that I may be mistaken..."

"Mistaken...like they were about you?" Muku asked with a slight hesitation, "And...what about Gel...and Godai? Are they...?"

"That wasn't them, Muku-chan," Rhea replied, "I could tell by the way that they moved, the manner in which they fought. They may have borrowed the outward forms of your rivals, complete with their knowledge of combat, but...there were subtle differences that I could tell which made me realize who they actually were...otherwise I would not have fought with all my fury to destroy them. Taking a human life is against my very nature, but they were not human, nor were they ever truly to begin with."

"But...where are the real Gel and Godai?" Muku asked, only to see Rhea lose her smile and glance down in regret.

"With Gold...there can be no doubt of that," she said sadly, "My fault for leaving them exposed to danger...I owe my apology to both them, their parents and your friend, their sister."

"A little late for self-recriminations, little lady," a new voice said as the pair looked up to see the armored form of Cobalt beside them, along with several other Iczelion-armored ladies, "Learn from your mistakes so as not to repeat them...and no one could have anticipated the ruthlessness which was displayed here."

"Our enemy is truly without mercy, humanity or compassion," Nami added in grim commentary, "But at least we were able to get some civilians spirited away before they could come to any harm here."

"Muku-chan," the more familiar form of a fuku-clad Yumi said softly, "Are you both all right? Is it really over for now?"

"It had better be," one of a pair of near-identical fuku-clad Yui's remarked, "We'd have a hard time explaining this one to our teachers as it is...and we have...casualties because of that giant foot kicking in the side of the building."

"How many were hurt?" Muku automatically asked.

"Not too many...fortunately," Kiiro replied.

"But considering the nature of the battle that was waged here, it is amazing that there were not more injuries than those unfortunate enough to be caught in the rubble," Kawai said softly.

"Hey, this is Nerima," Yumi shrugged, "Mindless destruction and property damage is nothing new here...but, strangely enough, hardly anyone ever seems to gets badly hurt in the wreckage."

"We did what we could to save as many as we were able..." Yui/Deimos added.

"But a lot of it was just dumb luck and survival reflex on the part of our classmates," Yui/Phobos concluded with a slight shrug of her shoulders.

"Such interesting people," Cobalt remarked, then said, "Rhea-chan, you must come with us now, your parents will have a fit if I don't get you promptly to your regenerator."

"Yes Auntie...I mean...Force Commander," Rhea replied, turning to Muku with another tentative smile, "I'll be back soon, Muku-chan, I promise. You be well until next I see you."

"Uh...sure," Muku replied, staring once more into the luminous eyes of her companion, only to see her vanish a moment later, along with her Iczer Robo and the Iczelion corps itself.

"Well," Sailor Hermes said after a brief pause in which she and the others remaining behind could take stock of the sudden quiet of their surroundings, "What's the story with you and Rhea-chan, Muku-chan? Are you a confirmed item yet?"

"An item?" Muku blinked.

"Don't play dumb with us," Deimos warned.

"You were making lovey-dovey eyes with her right now, admit it!" Phobos practically radiated sparks with this declaration.

"Huh, what?" Muku made a placating gesture, "Now wait...you don't understand...it wasn't like..."

"Wasn't like what?" Hermes asked, "You think we don't have eyes or something? C'mon, spill already! What's she really like in bed?"

"What?" Muku was shocked by the question, "How would I know about that? You got it all wrong, I..."

"Yes?" Deimos asked pointedly.

"We're waiting," Phobos crossly seconded.

"I..." Muku hesitated, the vision of Rhea floating into her mind unbidden, with all the complex attendant feelings that confused her whenever the Bioroid was near, "I...I...I don't really know..."

"You don't really know?" Hermes blinked her eyes in faint disbelief.

"Come on," Deimos huffed.

"You either like the girl or you don't," Phobos seconded, "So...which is it?"

"I..." Muku started to say, only to hesitate again, surprised at herself as a wellspring of new emotions rose up within her, but before she could form a coherent statement the four of them were suddenly confronted by an entirely new challenge.

"What are you girls doing hanging around out here in the middle of an evacuation...you delinquents?" a familiar stern voice assailed them.

Both Muku and her Senshi friends collectively winced at that then turned and as one chorused, "Yes, Hinako-Sensei!"

"Do not 'yes Hinako-Sensei' me, you slackers," Vice-Principal Hinako Ninamiya replied, "The school is closed for the day, you four are the last students yet to either be sent home or to the infirmary, so...what are you doing hanging around here? You should report at once to your parents!"

"We were just leaving," Hermes cheerfully replied before stage-whispering to the others, "Let's go guys, before she gets the wrong idea and decides she needs a recharge."

"Yeah, no fooling," Muku agreed at once, not relishing the thought of going home to face her parents and having to form an explanation for the events of the past twenty four hours.

"Giant monsters and Youma are one thing," Deimos added.

"...But Vice-Principal Hinako...scary!" Phobos concluded with no little irony in her voice, to which her companions all nodded in tacit consensus.

"Hey, wait a minute," Hermes said as she shifted back into her regular civilian guise as Mizuno Yumi, "You guys notice we're one short of a full hand here?"

"Eh?" Deimos asked, before she and Phobos shifted back together into the form of Hibiki Yui, "What do you mean?"

"I mean Sakura-chan, dummy," Yumi sniffed, "Whenever there's a problem on school grounds, no matter how big, she's usually the first one to jump into the fray with no thought of fear or hesitation."

"Say, that's right," Muku said as she turned a worried eye towards the school grounds and murmuring, "Sakura-chan...where are you?"

"Sakura-chan?" Yui bristled slightly, but tactfully decided not to pursue the matter any further...at least for the present...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Cybernetic Counseling: shadowmane

And what about Sakura? Can she handle being trapped in the mind of Atros with Troi and a rampaging Gold Virus? Fine out next time in: "Going for the Gold," or "There Ain't Enough Room in this Head for the Two of Us!" Be there!

X -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	23. Chapter 23

Earthchild23

The Earthchild

(An Iczer/Ranma/Sailor Moon Crossover)

by

Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi,  
Toshiro Hirano, Naoko Takeuchi &amp; Others)

Chapter Twenty-Three.

Fiber was coming to a disturbing realization...well, actually two of them, the first being the speed with which the boy named Tenma absorbed her lessons and took to Noh puppetry as though he had been born to this vocation. Oh, true, his handling was a bit clumsy in places, but given that he could create things with the power of his imagination, moving them in accordance to his will was-for lack of a better word-almost like childsplay.

The actual disturbing part came when he put on a show for her to demonstrate his burgeoning talents. It was a simple enough melodrama, a story involving an epic struggle between good and evil with lots of symbolic clashes and simple characters who embodied the natural elements that would tend to populate such a story. That these pseudo-people in the story tended towards the overly simplistic with names like "Destructo" or "Chaosia" and personalities that were paper thin and more than slightly deranged was only to be expected in such a two-dimensional story, and dialogue so ridiculous that it strained credulity to believe that even halfway rational people would talk in such a manner...and then it hit her, the irony of that statement!

Her second disturbing realization was really that the boy's peculiar insight into the patterns of her life directly mirrored what he took to be popular fiction on his world. The appalling implications of this were much less than pleasant to contemplate, but it was unmistakable given the boy's convincing depiction of characters very reminiscent of both herself and her fellow Sisters of the Comet, to say nothing of Neos Gold and her other creations. The idea that her own life could be reduced to some child's tale of mischief was not exactly flattering to her already badly battered ego, but given all else that she had just discovered about herself of late it was about par for the course (an Earther term she still had yet to fully fathom).

That her previous life and self-identity had been reduced to such a shallow, two-dimensional rendition was indeed a matter for some serious consideration, but Fiber knew that there had been a lot more to her monstrous career as an interstellar Space Criminal (wanted in most parts of the known Galaxy by the Galaxy Police, among other such powerful law-enforcement groups), and as for the lives she had helped ruin...there was no easy way of reducing the matter, but as Fiber she had been a truly awful person, delighting in making sport out of those who were powerless to fight back against her. Seen through a child's eyes she was truly a monster, and yet with this child she had discovered a different side to her nature, one that could be gentle and nurturing, like an older sister more than a surrogate mother.

So it was that she politely applauded the boy as he came to the conclusion of his story, where light and justice had prevailed and the evil-doers had slunk away to nurture their wounds, vowing bloody vengeance for another day and all of that (she was rather remarkably impressed that the youth had avoided actually killing anybody, even when the bad guy was at the mercy of the heroes, an act of mercy that-technically speaking-was rather irresponsible and could get one killed in some future encounter, but was nonetheless a good sign that the boy only meant to kill as the last possible extreme and not as an impulse towards destruction. It made him out to be a much better person than Fiber, who at the moment was not feeling too charitable towards herself and the perverted creature she had become on account of Neos.

"Wonderfully done, Child," Fiber said aloud as she clapped her hands together (which made a kind of wooden sound, but she ignored this rather painful reminder of her own inhuman status), "You've managed to exceed my expectations, as always...but still you do need to work a bit on the detail of your creations. Puppets should have that easily identifiable quality that helps the audience to suspend their disbelief and recognize something of themselves in the play and its principle performers."

"Ah...yeah...I need to work on that a bit more," he said with a lopsided smile, scratching behind one ear as he turned to regard his own creations, then concentrated a bit to make their faces have a more human appearance.

"You are quite the little story teller, did you know that?" Fiber mused, "Your grasp of the elements of plot and characterization are quite good...you do need to polish up a bit with individual character quirks so that they do not all come across as sounding like variables of the same person..."

"I'll remember that, Sensei," Tenma replied, nodded, using the term for 'teacher' out of habit, "But...well...there's something I'm kind of...well...it worries me, if you know what I mean..."

"Oh?" Fiber asked, "What troubles you so, Tenma-san?"

"Well...it's just..." he looked at her frankly and said, "How long have we been here in subspace anyway? It feels like days, maybe even a week, but why haven't my Mom and Pop come coming for me in all that time? Don't they miss me?"

"Oh," Fiber understood the child's concerns at once and hastened to alleviate them, "No, your parents love you very much...no boy who could share his smile as openly as you do could ever come from a home that was without love and affection. It's is just that...well...time flows a bit differently here in subspace than it does in your own realm."

"Really?" Tenma blinked, "Like...how do you mean?"

"Time here is not really very linear," she explained, "It does not operate the same way that it does in a normal timestream. A minute here could be a second or a year out there, and the only reason we even recognize the passage of time is because our minds are accustomed to thinking in the normal three dimensions of space and time. Here time is more like a function of the imagination than of physical or concrete nature...much like the permanence of the objects which you create here...the more you believe in it, the more real it becomes to our conventional way of thinking."

Tenma blinked his eyes as he absorbed that, then in his usual incredulous tones he said, "Really?"

"Oh yes," Fiber nodded, "The very nature of Subspace is why the Iczers and my Sisters can spot-teleport over a finite time and distance. Thinking yourself to somewhere else requires that you understand how to will yourself through the Subspace portal and back again at whatever point you can literally imagine. It is the speed of thought itself that allows us to go from one place to another, and the only limit is the degree of our focus, our ability to project ourselves elsewhere. Time here could be almost instantaneous, or slowed down to a crawl...it's all a matter of your imagination."

"Cool!" Tenma grinned, then his next question was quite predictable, "Can I learn to do it too?"

Fiber was about to say no when she paused to reflect on the question in more detail. This was not a normal Earth-child that she was dealing with here, already the boy had demonstrated skills and talents far beyond the cope of anything to which she might have imagined him capable only a short while ago. After a moment of hesitation she responded, "Possibly...I do not know if it is something you can learn. I have an in-built gland that allows me to merge with Subspace at will, but for you the process might be a little more complicated. Perhaps we will see...after we continue with the rest of your training."

"I don't wanna seem like I don't appreciate what you're doing or nothing like that, Fiber-san," Tenma replied, "And I really like learning about all this stuff that you've been teaching me, really...but...I'm starting to miss my parents. Heck, I'm even starting to miss my big sister! I want them to know that I'm all right so they don't have to worry about me and all that...but heck, I'm even starting to miss school! You think maybe I'm coming down with something?"

Fiber actually chuckled at the jest but sighed as she studied him in more frank detail, a wistful yearning reminding her of how much she missed her long-lost little brother, "I'm sorry, Tenma-san...I've been very selfish keeping you here with me. I should have thought to take you home as soon as I was fully recovered, but...well...it has been nice spending time with you, and Subspace can seem...very empty without someone here who knows about sadness and laughter...but with my need to stay in seclusion and all, away from the prying eyes of my...former employer..."

"Oh yeah," Tenma nodded, "I totally forgot...you're boss is after you too, right? If he finds out you're still alive..."

"It would be...very unpleasant for me, yes," Fiber nodded, "But since they think I'm dead it should be safe enough for me to bring you back to your home...at least for a visit."

Tenma thought about it for a long moment then said, "But that's risky for you, huh? You may be back to your old self, but leaving you alone out here with nobody to protect you...that just ain't right either..."

Fiber felt a very odd sensation pass through her as she studied the youth, then in half-amused tones she said, "Do you imagine yourself as my fierce protector? I must say that I am...flattered."

"Hey, we're friends," Tenma replied, "Friends look out for each other, right? Besides, it's like Pop always says...a real man won't let anything bad happen to a woman he cares about, and if I'm worthy of being a Saotome, then I just can't desert you."

"I...do not know how to put this, my noble Knight," Fiber replied, "But I am much older than you, and I'm powerful enough to look after myself...'

"But not against your Boss, right?" Tenma nodded as if deciding something right there and then, "Tell you what...if time don't mean the same thing here, then it doesn't matter when I go back, right?"

"Well...possibly so..." Fiber said with some reluctance.

"Then why don't I stay here with you a while longer so you can teach me more about this Noh stuff," Tenma replied, "Maybe even show me how to teleport, then-  
-when I'm stronger-I can go home and tell me folks what a good friend you've been, so maybe people won't think bad things about you anymore. Does that sound about right?"

"I..." Fiber fought against an entirely selfish impulse, knowing that it was wrong to want the boy to stay, that if it were truly her little brother and he had people waiting for him on the other side, then her first duty would be to reunite him with his parents. It was what Weaver-the girl she had once been-  
-would have done without hesitation...but...the logic the boy employed to argue his case was impeccable, and like with so much else she found herself reluctantly agreeing to his persuasion, even though her conscience demanded that she make at least one token stipulation.

"Very well," she nodded slowly, "I'll continue to teach you about Noh puppetry, and then we will see if you can master the art of Subspace transference. If, however, you do not learn how to teleport, or if we determine that you lack the capability to do so on your own, then we will return you to your home with no arguments or hesitation, agreed?"

Tenma at once brightened, "Deal! I can't wait to learn how to go places just by thinking about it! That's something even Sakura doesn't know how to do...won't she be green with envy?"

Fiber smiled, but the one she envied now was this mysterious girl named Saotome Sakura, who had such a precocious little brother, just as she had once had her little Tetsuo. The memory of her much-beloved and missed younger sibling threatened to bring tears to her eyes once again, a fact that did not go unnoticed by her all-too-perceptive pupil.

"Fiber-san...what's making you feel sad now?" he asked with an entirely earnest expression.

"It's nothing," she said dismissively, but then a thought occurred to her and she smiled again, "I was just remembering...a story I know...a sad one, but it seems to have a happy resolution. Would you like to hear it?"

"You bet!" Tenma grinned, a true connoisseur at the art of story telling, eager to hear a new story as well as to tell it in his own manner.

Fiber nodded then conjured up some wooden figurines and began to make the complex finger motions needed to make them dance, grateful that she had at least this much of her old life left to share with her eager apprentice as she began her story saying, "Once upon a time there was a little girl who lived in a far-  
away kingdom, and she was very happy. Her father was a puppeteer and story teller, and his daughter worshipped him and sought to honor his memory...the memory of her father and her little brother, whose name was Tetsuo..."

"Life just isn't fair," growled the Doppelganger spy who bore the face and semblance of Saotome Tenma, trudging as he was between classes at his grade school, wondering why he had to keep up the pretense of being someone else to the extent that he even had to do the other boy's homework, "This assignment sucks," he growled in faint resignation.

His assignment was to keep watch over the Saotome household, but curse the luck that the boy he had duplicated was an underage youth who could not stay around the restaurant all day without drawing the ire of his overly bossy mother. He might protest and pretend to play sick but she wasn't buying any excuses, and the more fuss he made the more stubborn she would become about him needing a good education.

Education! As if this human world would be around long enough for him to have to worry about graduating and going on to a higher institute of learning! What was the point having to memorize history and do social studies when his master intended to obliterate the very society of which he now was nominally a part? Like he needed to worry about some long-dead swordsman or what Lord did this to his vassals, as if any of it even mattered! And so many boring things that they expected him to memorize...what was the point? Human science was screechingly primitive while his math class was so backward that they actually thought integers and simple algebraic formulas were complicated!

And-worst of all by far, Tenma grumbled-there were his fellow classmates to consider, a point brought home as he inadvertently bumped into one while innocently passing through the main hallway. Normally he could have avoided running into the larger boy without effort, but Taro Honma was not exactly someone so easily avoided.

"Hey, watch it, Squirt!" the other boy belligerently taunted as Tenma bounced off his chest and had to back-pedal in order to recover.

"Watch out yourself," Tenma immediately challenged, automatically rating the other boy to be five centimeters and at least twelve kilos more massive than himself, "I ain't got time to deal with you now, Taro."

"Oh, listen to him," the other boy taunted while turning to his friends, a group that Tenma reflexively identified under the heading of "losers," "He thinks he's so tough just because his daddy runs a dojo out of a restaurant! Well, my Dad's twice as tough as your loser father, so what are you gonna do about it?"

"My Pop is not a loser!" Tenma automatically defended without even having to think about it.

"Yeah, right," the larger boy began to pop his knuckles together, obviously spoiling for a fight, "Why don't you back that mouth up of yours for a change instead of running away, loser?"

"I ain't running from you," Tenma curled a lip to head off a less prudent remark that sprang to mind, opting for the more diplomatic, "I just don't wanna get into any trouble."

"Too late for that," Honma nodded to his companions, "Get him!"

At any other time the Doppelganger posing as Tenma would have cursed at the situation and how much it conflicted with his protocols of "keeping a low profile." He naturally had far more power at his disposal than the other boys even suspected and could have taken them out without lifting a finger. That, however, was not the way that Tenma would deal with second-rate challenges like this, and as his body was a perfect mimic in every detail, so too naturally did his reflexes come to the fore as he sensed that one of the boys had snuck up behind him and was attempting to hunch down on all fours behind Tenma's legs so that another boy could push him over, thus putting him off balance so that the rest of the bullies could dog pile on top of him after he landed flat on his back.

Naturally enough, that was not the way it happened.

Tenma jumped up and came down with both feet planted on the shoulders of the boy who had been attempting to play the fulcrum, thus propelling said boy face-first into the floor while Tenma vaulted off his back and performed a perfect somersault, landing nimbly on his feet without even having to set down his book bag and box lunch.

That threw the other bullies off balance, not having expected him to work beyond their obstacle, but they were a little slow in changing tactics as Tenma went on the offensive, his hands lashing out with such speed that they were no more than a blur to the eye as he hit them in sensitive pressure-point areas then backed away again, leaving the six bullies standing around looking like petrified statues.

"What's the matter, Taro-san?" Tenma sneered to the astonished other boy, "Ain't you man enough to do your own fighting?"

The larger boy firmed his chin and came forward in a charge that might have impressed anyone else but a Saotome, but Tenma hardly worked up a sweat as he deflected the other boy's lunge then tripped him up and sent him charging head-  
first into some lockers. That was enough to momentarily take the fight out of his boyhood nemesis as Tenma retrieved his bag of books once again and cheerfully called out over his shoulder, "Now who's the loser?"

"Tenma-san," a voice gently directed itself towards him, and for some strange reason Tenma found himself freezing in mid-step, "I...want to apologize...my brother's behavior is inexcusable, and I hope you will find it in your heart to forgive him."

Tenma slowly turned his head and saw a pretty young girl (of about his height and age) whose pale gray hair was almost blue-tinted, and reflexively he called upon his borrowed memories to place her identity as one Taro Yuki, younger sister of the arrogant boy he had just defeated.

"Hah?" he said with a momentarily thunderstruck expression.

"I know he can be a problem sometimes," Yuki continued, "But in his own misguided way I know my brother is looking out for what he thinks are my interests. I...should have said something about it before but...well...seeing you now going out of your way not to hurt him...I...that is..."

Tenma blinked as he saw the pale girl's face grow briefly warm, and then she impulsively moved forward and planted a kiss on the side of his face before stepping away and saying, "Thank you...for being understanding."

And like that the girl turned around and hurried away, leaving Tenma standing where he was with a most peculiar expression. For some reason the Doppelganger felt his face grow unusually warm, as though his facial capillaries were wide open, and then he cringed slightly, feeling a delayed shiver. The girl's lips had been as cold as ice, and yet the place where she had kissed him burned slightly, threatening to set the rest of him on fire.

(What...the heck had just happened?) he wondered numbly, right before a voice spoke in his head, (AGENT ULTRA-REPORT!)

Tenma shook off his momentary daze, recognizing the authority of Big Gold's tone of voice before responding, (I am here, my Lord!)

(RETURN TO ME AND REPORT ON ALL THAT YOU HAVE WITNESSED), Gold commanded in a mental tone that brooked no contradiction.

(Ah...right-I mean-at once, Master), Tenma glanced around and realized that it was too crowded in the hallway for him to teleport outright, but-as fortune would have it-the bathrooms were just a ways down the corridor and off to his right, and without bothering to miss a stroke he hurried forward, heedless of all the curious traffic that surrounded him as his fellow classmates made passing comment on his latest victory over the minor annoyance that was Taro Honma (and a few even made snide, sniggly remarks about the kiss he had received from the **other** Taro, to which Tenma felt a strong inclination to exact retribution, though just why he should feel that way he had no rational comprehension).

He wasted no time, once in a stall, to teleport through Subspace back to his own home dimension, whereupon he was admitted to "The Presence." Gold sat upon her throne, as always, looking down upon Tenma, who bowed at the knee in respect and kept his head averted until permission was granted with a haughty, "Speak. What have you to report this time concerning the Saotomes?"

"Master," Tenma agreed, "As you suspected, they are not a normal family of ordinary humans. I have witnessed Pop-the father of this one whose form I wear-execute what he calls a 'Chi Summoning Maneuver' that was worthy of an Iczer. With his own hands he formed a ball of concentrated Iczerio-like energy and shaped it into a focused energy burst that I measured at seventeen million joules..."

"Impossible," said the nearby presence of Neos Gold, "Ordinary Terrans are not capable of such a thing..."

"But this Saotome is not an ordinary human being, it would seem," Big Gold said with a narrowing of eye-slits, "Curious...I had thought only Kano Nagisa to be capable of generating such vast amounts of Iczerio energy, but it appears that this world has many residents numbered among the human population whose ability to harness such forces has yet to be adequately measured. What more can you tell us about the Saotome family that may be of importance?"

"I do know that the male line of the family has its roots in a family who guards an ancient shrine located in some distant Japanese mountains...a great-great-  
grandfather who is said to be some manner of immortal," Tenma replied, "There are also memories regarding a great-grand-aunt who sometimes spends her time teaching Pop-this one's father-the advanced secrets of her Amazon people..."

"Amazons you say?" Big Gold's eye-slits further narrowed, "Curious...there are many references to a race of supposedly all-female warriors whose roots go back into ancient Earth culture. I wonder...could there be a link between them and the C'thuwulf? It would certainly explain a great deal if the Saotome branch were descended from the mingled stock of Terran and C'thuwulf people..."

"You suspect that a colony could have made it out to this backwater corner of the galaxy, Mother?" Neos Gold asked.

"It certainly cannot be ruled out as yet," Gold noted, "And, if so, then it could explain how it was that a human girl like this Saotome Sakura could form a bond with Iczer Three that enabled them to defeat Atros. Perhaps a similar such link might explain how the girl named Senzenen Muku Dori is also capable of granting Iczer Four such unlimited amounts of power that she could so easily defeat Cross and Chaos."

"Those units were defective models anyway," Neos sneered, "And, in any event, they served their purpose by allowing us to gauge the truth strength of our enemies, so their sacrifice was necessary."

"True enough," Big Gold acknowledged, "For cybernetic organisms, they were truly gifted in the arts of mayhem and destruction, but ultimately their power paled to insignificance next to a single Iczer. They served the cause as well as they were able, and even though the mission itself was a dismal failure, I have obtained valuable information regarding my enemies, information that will be put to good use in my next attack, one that is certain to bring about the death of the Iczers."

"A pity that Holokhan proved such a disappointment," Neos said off-handedly, "It would have been amusing if he had gone off and laid waste to the entire Tokyo region."

"Patience, my minion," Gold chided, "There will be time enough to wreck my vengeance on this pathetic mud ball and its human infestation."

Tenma did not move from the spot where he was still kneeling, but a part of him felt a peculiar chill, as if the thought of what had just been casually discussed did not imply the thing which he now suspected.

"At any event," Gold turned to regard a set of hibernation booths off to one side, "This proves the wisdom of my having kept our guests around for this long, rather than to be rid of them at once. Now that I have a better idea of what the nature of an Iczer is like, I can fashion them into more useful tools than Cross and Chaos could ever be, and then Iczer Four's days will be truly numbered."

"Such an irony, having to use human filth like that to counteract the effect of other humans," Neos sneered.

"Fortunately these humans have their own inner talents yet to be explored," Gold mused in obvious relish, "It is simply a matter of learning how to unlock these talents in order to put them to a good use, and once that is managed...then they will be truly terrifying opponents worthy of facing the Iczers."

"But what of this new element that has entered the field of play?" Neos asked, "This...Saotome Sakura?"

"Ah yes...a wild card, to be certain," Gold frowned, "I so dislike random and unpredictable factors in my equations. Perhaps she can either be recruited or eliminated, either way we should be able to cripple the effectiveness of Iczer Three in the near future. Tell me, Minion, where is your dearly beloved sister?"

"We...don't know as yet, Master," Tenma replied, "She vanished during the night and has not been seen since the recent battle..."

"No matter," Gold said dismissively, "She is bound to turn up again, and now that the C'thuwulf have some idea of her worth they will probably take what steps as they know how to use in order to protect her from my reach...well...little do they suspect that my reach is already quite long. I trust you will know what to do when the time is right, my Minion."

"I...understand, Master," pseudo-Tenma replied, feeling a genuine reluctance coming over him as he tried not to think of his new target as his "older sister," with all the attendant joys and hardships that came from being around his "Oneechan," the sometime bane of Saotome Tenma's all-too-brief existence...

Sakura had been in VR games before that had convincing computerized representations of supposedly realistic terrain and game settings, but the vividness of this mental recreation had a lifelike quality all its own, making it hard to disassociate from an actual battle zone. The setting was depressing enough, being the ruins of a major metropolitan city, which one could not immediately be discerned, but it did not look like any part of Tokyo and had more of the quality that she tended to associate with a Western city. The buildings were spaced further apart and there were fewer signs and much less Neon than one might expect in a Tokyo district.

Wherever it was, the place was decidedly cheerless and was lacking in social amenities, being clearly the aftermath of a major combat zone, either that or like one of those post-apocalyptic settings that often appeared in Western sci-  
fi movies. Either way she knew that trouble had to be lurking around nearly every bend, and given that this was the mental landscape of a deeply disturbed mind under serious occupation, the odds were good that her first confrontation would not be a peaceful one, though it was likely to come disguised in a seemingly harmless package. That was always the way in cheaply made thrillers, something innocent looking would turn out to be something eminently deadly.

As if on cue to her thoughts (which was possible, given the nature of this particular landscape), Sakura heard something that set her battle reflexes on immediate edge, her impulse barely checked to reach for her primary battle weapon as she fell into a ready crouch, wanting to take time to determine the nature of the menace. It was going off half-cocked that often got a fighter into trouble, while relying on ones instincts never let you down in a pinch, or so she had learned at the knee of her father.

She approached cautiously using a Ninja-style sliding foot motion, the kind that gave speed and stealth to her movements, only belatedly realizing that the illusion of sound was just an effect of the mind here. She rounded the corner and came upon the source of the bouncing noises...

And saw a little girl playing with a ball...a dirty urchin child with long black hair styled up in a curiously wavy pattern. It took no great leap of insight to place this as a child version of the woman named Atros, making this a mental conception of her youth, a fact Sakura recognized in the flash of one second.

Obviously the appearance of fragile innocence was meant to lure her into lowering her guard, but Sakura decided to play along, pretending to relax as she approached the child, then softly spoke the words, "Hey, are you all right?" to which the child abruptly looked up at her and stopped playing.

For a moment longer neither one of them spoke, but then Sakura decided to test her theory further by saying, "Your name is Atros, right? How do you do? My name is Sakura..."

"What are you doing here, pretty lady?" little Atros asked in a childish voice.

"I'm...looking for a friend," Sakura replied, "You wouldn't have seen her around, would you? Kind of tall with silver hair that's styled a little like yours...even looks a little bit like you, did you know that?"

"Why?" little Atros asked her.

"Eh?" Sakura asked, "Why what?"

"Why do you want to find her?" little Atros clarified, her expression remaining neutral.

Sakura had to concede that this was a very good question. Why was she doing this? It wasn't as if she owed Troi anything, and they had only just met the previous day. Sure Troi had surprised her in the showers and took away her virginity in one swoop, but that should have produced the opposite effect other than the concern that she was feeling. Sakura was used to helping those who were in need of her services, usually those weaker and less able than herself, but that description hardly fit Troi, who acted like some kind of a super-woman, even taking in stride that she was some kind of Biochemical android.

In the end she was left to answer the only way she knew how, "She's a friend...she needs my help. Friends help each other, don't you think so?"

"I don't know," Atros replied, "I never had any friends before...before I met Troi. I thought she was my enemy, and then I thought she was my sister..."

"And now you find out she's something else, right?" Sakura mused, wondering if the child were truly the danger or just the lure to distract her from the real danger, either way she was finding this little-girl version of the deranged Android that she and Sakura had fought to be something of an enigma. On the one hand she spoke in terms of a child probing an adult, on the other hand there was a more sophisticated poignancy to the questions she was asking, a hint more in the tone that suggested a sharper mind was leading the questions. Either way it would not pay off for her to lower her guard or be taken in by mere appearances, so she waited to see what next would happen.

"I don't really know," Atros replied, "Big Gold says I should hate her, but if she's really my friend, then why would I do that?"

"Because she is your friend, Atros-san," Sakura replied, "But Big Gold is your enemy. Don't you know she wants you to hurt people because she's a really bad person?"

"Is she now?" the child's tone sharpened abruptly, "Or is it you who are my enemy? Have you come here to destroy me?"

All at once the child's outward appearance began to alter, and she threw the ball in her hands at the ground, causing it to bounce once before flying at Sakura at great speed, splitting open down the center to form a wicket mouth with needle-sharp teeth that tried to bite her face off, or would have if Sakura had not avoided it at the last instant.

Then something else came rocketing her way and Sakura turned in time to dodge an attack that came at her with the speed of a whirling dervish. The child had metamorphosed into a form closer to Sakura's own age in less than a second and lashed out with literal fists of fury that whizzed by her head with such speed that the wind they kicked up alone could have knocked her silly. Somehow Sakura managed to dodge all of these blows, even when one went wild and pulverized the entire side of a building that had been positioned behind her.

"Big Gold, I presume?" Sakura remarked as she unslung her bakers peel, stepping past and around Atros before assuming a fighting crouch, "Or are you still Atros?"

"Who wants to know?" Atros asked as she turned about, ignoring the collapsing structure behind her.

"Saotome Sakura," she replied, flashing her bakers peel at the ready, "Heir to the Saotome Ryu of Anything Goes Martial Arts."

This time she did not see Atros's fist move until it slammed into her bakers peel and snapped the blade section off at the base of the handle. The black haired Bioroid just smiled and said, "Was I supposed to be impressed? That tinfoil creation of yours isn't much of a weapon."

"Oh no," Sakura shook her head slowly as she tossed aside her broken peel handle, "Now you've gone and done it, insulting my school and my spatula like that. Now I won't take it so easy with you."

"Yeah? So what?" Atros sneered, her hand in motion again, though this time aimed at the ground as she created a shock-wave that kicked up the ground like a major-league earthquake. Clearly this maneuver was intended to shake things up and topple Sakura off balance, and it might have worked if she had never seen such a maneuver before...unfortunately for Atros she had...or rather, unfortunate for the program that was controlling her as the dark haired Bioroid seemed unprepared to receive a pair of feet rapping off the top of her head the very next second.

Sakura flawlessly executed a tumble back to her feet then said, "Not too bad, you and a guy I know named Taro ought to get together and compare earth-rattling techniques like that."

"Why you...Human!" Atros spat as she whirled around, now as mad as the proverbial wet hen.

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Sakura replied, then held out her hands and concentrated, calling another bakers peel into existence, "Didn't like the first one, huh? Maybe this one with make a better impression."

Atros moved like a blur and aimed her fist at Sakura's head, only to have the flat of the newly formed peel intercept that fist, which caused it to indent sharply with a fist-like impression forming mere centimeters from her face, which surprised Sakura to no little effect, though she managed to absorb the brunt of the powerful blow without being injured.

"I doubt it!" Atros sneered as Sakura reluctantly cast aside her second baker's peel, calling a third one into existence with a little more personal concentration.

"Nice right you've got there," Sakura said as she stood at the ready, "Want to make another go of it...Sugar?"

Atros came on like a raging tsunami this time, but now Sakura had some idea of what she was up against, having gauged her opponent's speed and strength from these initial attacks, and factoring in the obvious point that her foewoman had-  
-as yet-only been using a fraction of her real power. It was like fighting a souped-up Hibiki with a raging mad-on, and when Yui got into moods like this she could be like an unstoppable force of nature.

Of course Sakura had been fighting Yui nearly all of her life and was prepared to meet the challenge of a warrior whose speed and strength ranged to beyond the "merely human." This Atros had a lot of raw power at her command but her combat style was basic, lacking the subtle moves and complex maneuvers to which Yui often aspired due to her own intensive training. It took no great insight to calculate the probable movements and strategies being employed by this Titan of Terror, and as such she had but to wait for the right moment to go on the counter-offensive, staying one step out of reach of Atros's every thrust, jab and kick as though she had seen it coming from twenty kilometers away, and only when she sensed that an opening was about to develop did she reverse-pivot around one thrust and bring the flat of her spatula up to the side of Atros's face, swatting her like the proverbial fly, which was not quite an apt analogy since this "fly" almost dented her baker's peel, though the momentum behind it threw her off and caused her to go crashing face-first into the side of another building.

Sakura fell into a defensive crouch as she watched the building collapse on top of Atros, wincing slightly at the tons of asphalt, steel and gravel pressing down on her foe, to which Sakura could not resist quipping the line, "Now that has got to hurt."

One minute later she was seriously regretting her words, for the pile of rubble exploded upward with a massive roar of searing white flames, and up from the ashes rose a none-too-happy Atros, who was all but seething with the intensity of her fury. Sakura read her intent in the Bioroid's blazing eyes and wasted no time getting the hell out of the way, right before the black haired girl gestured with both hands and blew apart the area where Sakura had been standing.

Said blast kicked Sakura up and tossed her like a rag doll, but with the experience of long training she went limp and absorbed the brunt of the shock wave, then straightened out and somersaulted to a nimble one-point landing. She automatically spun about and gaped at the area Atros had blasted, seeing a virtual canyon had opened up where the earth had been gouged out to form a thirty-meter wide trough that stretched on for about a kilometer from the point of impact.

"Oboy," Sakura winced, having a better idea now of just what type of foe she was playing with here. Beyond question she was seriously out of her league if she meant to trade straight blows against her, but this being the arena of a trouble mind, she knew that she still had a chance, provided she continued to use her opponent's inexperience against her.

"You dare insult me, you pathetic Monkey?" a voice that did not quite sound like Atros came out from her lips, showing that the true puppet master was at last taking an interest, "DIE!"

Sakura sensed something was wrong just before the ground beneath her started to grow soft and to undulate, which was rather like one of her training sessions in which she had been tested to mark the skills of her Ninja forebears. Quicksand traps were a standard stock and trade of the profession, and rather easy to anticipate, though avoiding them meant having to either find another perch to leap upon or else master the very difficult technique of walking on water.

Further complicating this she sensed more movement in the shadows and at once twirled her peel as though it were a cheerleader's baton, slicing through tendrils that had sought to ensnare her, already vaulting into the air before the ground went totally soft underfoot, though that left her in the awkward state of hanging in mid-air with gravity sure to assert its hold at any moment.

But of course the Saotome Ryu was primarily an aerial combat system, and Sakura knew a few choice ways in which a body could prolong the act of falling, even counteract gravity for a few crucial instants. As such she began to whirl her peel over her head like a helicopter, kicking up a breeze as she used Amaguriken speeds to fan enough air to hold her suspended above the ground while she drifted to relative safety. She landed on a spot of ground that "felt" safe to her Ninja-honed senses and was gratified to find it solid under her feet. She started to straighten up again when she "felt" another onrush of air aimed towards her back and lashed out with a back-hand thrust that was both timed and aimed by instinct, feeling the "crunch" of Atros's face once more impacting with her spatula, which stunned the Bioroid for several more critical instants.

"Lights out, Sleeping Beauty!" Troi cried as she reversed her swing and brought her peel around again, this time to lay the blade-edge at the back of the dark haired girl's skull, timing it on the duller side-edge rather than the sharpened front so that the force of her blow was concentrated on one area that would equate to the Hyperthalamus of a normal human.

The effect was as desired...Atros dropped like a stone as though someone had just pressed the off-switch, thus proving again another one of her father's favorite dictums: "No matter how tough they are, if they have a nervous system, they can be kayoed." Sakura smiled in satisfaction, kneeling to check her fallen foe to insure that she was merely out of it and not more severely injured. Already a lump was forming in the space where she had been "spatulaed,' and Sakura would not envy her the headache that Atros would experience upon reviving, but at least it took the fight out of the dark haired warrior...at least for the moment.

Of course this being a realm where thought and belief held more sway than matter, there was no telling how soon the Bioroid might recover her wits, so Sakura picked her up and slung the girl over her shoulder in a "Fireman" carry, reasoning that if she found a spot to lay her down she might be able to do more help for Atros who-after all-was not to blame for anything that had so far happened. The girl weighed a bloody ton (or rather a lot more than Sakura had calculated), but the young Saotome was a very strong and healthy girl who could easily manage her own weight and then some, so she turned about and surveyed the combat zone, looking for a likely place to take her charge for a "therapy session."

That was when she sensed and heard the faint rumbling of distant explosions, turning to face in the direction in which they seemed to originate and wondering if they might portend something significant and worthy of closer attention. It occurred to Sakura that Troi was the likeliest cause of such massive discharges, so-without further hesitation, with spatula in hand-she headed off that way, hoping that she might be in time to assist her silver-haired seductress before the Gold Virus could wreck any further mischief...

"How are they doing, Sister Grey?" Iczer One asked with a very sobering expression.

"So far so good...at least where Sakura is concerned," Grey replied, "This girl is quite remarkable...I am monitoring high stress levels similar to what she might experience in combat, yet she remains as cool and as calm as the proverbial rutabaga..."

"Cucumber," Nagisa automatically corrected, "Looks like Troi really hit pay dirt with this one...she's amazingly resilient, and to hold out this long against the Gold Virus..."

"She is a Saotome," Iczer Two nodded with just a hint of pride in the school to which she was also an adherent, "They don't know the meaning of defeat or terror...unless, of course, it has something to do with cats..."

"Cats?" Sayoko blinked her eyes, "Oh yeah...didn't her father have that phobia about cats, which made him go Neko anytime he got cornered by some cute little kitty?"

Iczer Two nodded in affirmation, "Every great warrior is entitled to a few weaknesses...except for myself, of course."

"Of course," Iczer One smiled affectionately, knowing full well that she and her sister shared the singular weakness of total obedience to their respective partners, "How then is Troi faring?"

"Not so good," Grey said with obvious concern, "Her power levels are dropping dramatically and I believe she is exhausting her Seratonin levels dramatically. At this rate she might burn herself out long before she can overcome the Gold Virus...at which point..."

"At which point Gold will attempt to overwhelm her and insert her evil presence," Iczer Two said grimly, "Can you sever the link before that can happen, Doctor?"

"Not while Troi's mind is deeply submerged into the mind of Atros...who is registering some unusual flux levels, by the way," Grey noted, "I believe Sakura is making some definite progress..."

"That is good to hear," a new voice said, one very much like Iczer Two, yet belonging to the silver haired Cobalt, "We may yet have some hope on our side, which is good since Gold has just raised the stakes to a whole new level."

"What do you mean, Force Leader?" Iczer One immediately sharpened her focus.

"I mean that we had another incident on the surface," Cobalt replied, "Only this time there was some property damage and a few casualties...mostly cuts, bruises, a few broken limbs and other forms of trauma that one might associate with the partial collapse of a school building."

"What?" Nagisa blinked, "Somebody attacked a school...you mean...?"

"Rhea was involved," Cobalt nodded, "She was delivering her partner to her school, as promised, only Gold had other ideas and launched a two-pronged assault making use of the Grey twins..."

"I do wish people would stop calling them that," Grey winced slightly, "Cross and Chaos were faulty attempts at grafting Bioroid technology directly into a human metabolism...I deeply regret the mistake that I made, which allowed Gold to corrupt them into her minions..."

"Sorry about that, Doctor," Cobalt nodded, then went on, "The larger threat was a Bioroid Gea that had been metamorphed into a colossal Iczer Robo, one programmed to explode with the intent of taking out half of the main Island of Honshu. The Iczelion core was able to contain it long enough for Rhea to transport it into Null Space with her Iczer Robo...however..."

"However?" Iczer Two frowned, "What are you avoiding here, Mother? Come right out and tell us...is Rhea-chan...well?"

"She lives," Cobalt nodded grimly, "But she took injury...seventeen percent damage to the lateral left side of her body...you've often warned her that she tends to drop her guard a bit there during combat."

"Is she all right?" Nagisa at once became distraught and angry, "Who dared to hurt my baby? I'll kill them!"

"Too late for that," Cobalt assured them, "Rhea did the job herself, thanks in no small measure to her partner. I believe the Earth-term for this is, 'You should see the other guy...'"

"It is not that I do not appreciate you wanting to lessen the impact of your news, Force Leader," Iczer One replied, "But do not make light of our daughter's injuries. The very fact that she was injured means that it could have been much worse...perhaps even...fatal."

"I will not deny this, Protector," Cobalt replied, "But you should be proud of your daughter's performance. I know that I am...she was magnificent out there, an unstoppable engine of justice and retribution. She struck swift, accurately and her blows were fatal. I could ask no more of any warrior in my service the way she selflessly risked her own life in order to save millions..."

"But still, in the end, she was injured," Iczer Two noted grimly, "I can see that I will have to work some more on her training. I've allowed her to grow too soft while she has been in the process of courting her new partner."

"We must go to her at once," Iczer One turned to Nagisa, "I do not wish to leave Troi's side when she is in need of our prayers, but..."

"Rhea's our only daughter," Nagisa replied, "Even if Troi is your sister, you can't balance one against the other."

"Hold on," Grey said, staring at her console as she added, "Something is happening in there...I'm detecting a flux level rise...the Synchronization levels of Sakura and Troi...they're..."

"They're what?" Sayoko asked.

Grey's face became one of wonder and amazement, "They're...rising! Ninety-nine-  
point-seven percent harmony...and increasing..."

Troi was actually panting from the force of her most recent exertions, not too much from a need for air as to fan her internal fires as the force of all her labors was causing her system to overheat internally, greatly diminishing her efficiency in battle.

"WHAT IS THE MATTER, ICZER THREE?" Big Gold taunted, "TIRING OUT ALREADY? AND THE FUN HERE HAS ONLY JUST GOTTEN STARTED..."

"I'm not licked yet, you Cyber-trashed Psycho!" Troi cried out in defiance, "If you think I've giving up now when I'm close to freeing my daughter of you..."

Sinister laughter echoed throughout the mental firmament as Gold reared back and sneered, "YOU PATHETIC PRETENDER TO A HUMANITY YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO CLAIM, YOU WASTE YOUR TIME AND YOUR ENERGIES TRYING TO ELIMINATE ME! I AM MUCH TOO DEEPLY INVETED IN THIS FRAMEWORK TO BE DISLODGED BY THE LIKES OF YOU, AND ANYWAY, YOU ARE GROWING WEAKER WITH EACH NEW ATTACK. SOON I WILL CLAIM YOU AS MY PRIZE AND THEN YOU CAN WATCH AS I TURN YOU AGAINST THOSE YOU REPUTEDLY LOVE, YOU DISGUSTING ANACHRONISM!"

"Ain't gonna happen," Troi said, "And watch that "anachronism" stuff...you're the one who's outlived her warranty, you trash-talking slut!"

"DEFIANT TO THE END, ARE WE, ICZER THREE...?"

"I told you before, that ain't my name!" Troi reared back and formed a ball of concentrated Iczerio energy between her hands, "I'M NOT A NUMBER, I'M A FREE ICZER! SO EAT THIS!"

The ball left her hands and struck the form of Big Gold, who remained unwavering as the coruscating energy broke and dissipated all around her.

"WAS THAT SUPPOSED TO BE YOUR PATHETIC BEST SHOT?" Big Gold sneered, "I AM SINGULARLY UNIMPRESSED WITH YOUR WEAKNESS! YOU DISGUST ME BEYOND WORDS WITH YOUR RIDICULOUS ATTEMPTS. PERHAPS YOU ARE NOT EVEN WORTHY OF INVESTING MY ESSENSE WITHIN YOU...PERHAPS I WILL JUST KILL YOU NOW AND BE DONE WITH YOU, A SECOND-RATE ICZER!"

Troi winced as she saw the energy form between the hands of her towering enemy, lacking the strength to take any evasive action. It was going to hurt when she got hit this time and she knew it, so she braced herself as best she was able and tried to summon up enough integrity to hold her self-image together...

But then something flashed out of the corner of her eye...several somethings, all moving very quickly. Big Gold did not even see the mini-statulas until they started glancing off her armored hide, causing her to turn just in time to see one heading straight for her faceplate, and before she could even blink one eye a spatula found it and penetrated into her iris.

"AAARRRGGGHHHH!" Big Gold cried as she lost her focus and caused her energy ball to harmlessly dissipate, rearing back in dismay while clutching at her wounded member, 'WHAT-WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME...?"

"Most probably improved your looks, Bitch," an all-too-familiar voice said from quite nearby, causing Troi to turn her head in time to see Sakura standing there, Atros slung across one shoulder, baker's peel in hand, the other hand bearing another fist full of the deadly throwing spatulas.

"S-Sakura?" Troi gasped, "What are you doing here...?"

"Other than saving your butt?" Sakura sniffed as she set Atros down on the ground and straightened up again, "What does it look like?"

"You can't stay here, it's too dangerous!" Troi protested.

"No duh," Sakura replied, turning to survey the towering giant, "I take it this is the big-mean virus that we're supposed to fight?"

"Look, I'm serious," Troi insisted, "You've got no idea what you're up against here, and you've no training for this kind of a battle..."

"I've managed pretty well so far," Sakura replied, falling into an easy stance, spatula at the ready, "Heads up...big Nasty is about to make another speech, so cover your hears."

"YOU-INSECT!" Big Gold raged, hands still covered over her mask-like visage, "YOU DARE TO MAR MY FACE WITH YOUR PATHETIC TOYS, YOU INSIGNIFICANT SPECK!"

"Yeah, well, it's like they always say," Sakura sniffed, "It's only fun until someone loses an eye."

"FOR THAT INSULT I SHALL FLAY THE SKIN FROM YOUR HIDE!" Gold cried, uncovering her masked face, one eye glowing hotly with outrage, "YOUR WHOLE ENTIRE WORLD WILL SUFFER THE THROES OF THE DAMNED...I WILL EXTERMINATE YOUR ENTIRE SPECIES..."

"Uh oh," Sakura murmured softly to herself, "No mouth...that's going to be a problem..."

"Huh?" Troi blinked, "What are you talking about?"

"Never mind," Sakura replied, thinking of the "Anti-Virus" she carried disguised as an okonomiyaki, "We've gotta act quickly to get that mask off her face. She does have a mouth underneath that, right?"

"Ah...yeah, I think so," Troi blinked, "Hey, wait a minute! Just what the heck are you planning?"

"Something that should prove a lot more effective than pounding her senseless must have been for you so far," Sakura responded.

"Oh yeah?" Troi bristled, "For your information I was doing just fine until right now..."

"When you were about to be deep fried?" Sakura sniffed, "Yeah, right...pull the other one."

"Look, it's too dangerous for a normal human to be in this place," Troi replied, "You have no idea what kind of a backlash this Virus could cook up for you...it could fry your synapses in a second!"

"That's only if she nails me," Sakura replied, "And it's not gonna happen."

"What?" Troi snapped, "Are you already damaged upstairs? That thing is the Virus that destroyed my homeworld, what are you gonna do with it? Bake it up an okonomiyaki?"

"What if I am?" Sakura replied, "You got a better idea, hotshot?"

"EXCUSE ME," the Gold Virus thundered, "IS THIS WHAT HUMANS CALL A LOVER'S QUARREL?"

"YOU SHUT UP AND KEEP OUT OF IT!" both Sakura and Troi snapped together.

Gold was sufficiently non-plussed by that statement that for several lingering seconds the gigantic form just loomed there looking confused and only slightly wrathful.

"Look," Sakura took a deep breath to calm herself down, "It's obvious to me that you're strung out and at the end of your rope here, Troi, so why don't you let me take over for a spell while you recover your wind?"

"I've been doing this for almost as long as you've been alive, kid," Troi responded before holding one arm in her hand and wincing, "Of course...I could take a minute or two to regenerate here...but there's nothing you can do against Gold, believe me! You're way out of your class, and if you get fried because of me..."

"Yes?" Sakura asked, moving closer to the side of the nearly exhausted Iczer.

"I...let's just say I wouldn't like myself very much, okay?" Troi asked, "Please, just do as I say and go back to the lab where it's safe?"

Sakura reached out a hand impulsively to touch Troi's arm, saying, "There's no where safe on the planet as long as monsters like this are on a rampage...please, let me help you, I can-whoah!"

The moment her hand made contact with Troi's arm something passed like a spark between them, and all at once Troi's breastplates began to glow and her body regained its vital integrity, causing her to straighten up with a most astonished expression. Sakura was no less surprised by the sudden transference of energy that passed between them, but rather than be exhausted in the exchange she felt renewed, alive and revitalized, as if the two of them had completed an arc that allowed them both to grow that much closer together.

"WHAT IS THIS?" Gold recovered her bearings, "THIS ENERGY...WHAT IS IT...WHERE DOES IT COME FROM? THIS SHOULD NOT BE HAPPENING AT ALL! WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?"

Sakura threw her head back and felt something flow through her body that had an electric quality and yet caused a series of pleasurable sensations to flow from within her. It was as if a dormant part of herself had suddenly come to life, awakening within her all sorts of curious thoughts and memories, much too fleeting and brief to possess and yet as real to her touch as the Iczer beside her.

Troi felt a similar rush as her body enlivened with near-limitless power. Her nervous system sang with the joy and delight of an orgasm as she gasped aloud, feeling a part of Sakura flowing into her and out again, making the both of them that much stronger for the completion of a circuit. Almost Troi could not believe her eyes as she stared in wonder at Sakura, seeing the forehead of the other girl begin to glow softly, as though pulsing jewels had appeared briefly upon her brow, only to vanish again as mysteriously as they had appeared.

Gold decided at that moment that she had had quite enough of playing the disinterested observer. She drew back a massive hand and focused her energies once more into a globe of force sufficiently powerful to obliterate an entire planet (had this been a real plane of existence, and she the real Gold instead of a copy). But when she brought her energy to bear in a searing blast that should have incinerated the pair before her into crisp-fried cinders, it instead met and was deflected by a globe of energy that sprung up to surround them both, forming into three wing-like arms that dispelled the opposing energies as though they had never been gathered.

"WHAT?" Gold recoiled, "HOW CAN THIS BE?"

The strange energy transference broke off that next second, leaving both Sakura and Troi to stagger at its sudden submergence, leaving them both to exchange puzzled looks of mutual wonder as if to ask with one thought, (WHAT THE HECK JUST HAPPENED?).

But then the looming menace of Gold drew their attention once again, and Sakura saw the monstrous form of the enemy Bioroid begin to expand until it was the size of an Iczer Robo, and she murmured to Troi, "Um...you think this might be a good time to get that robot thingie of yours in here?"

"Are you sure?" Troi asked, "It's kind of small in here...after all, this is Atros's head..."

"It's only as big as you make it out to be," Sakura replied, and the two of them exchanged smirks as sudden meaning became plain to the both of them.

"Why the hell not?" Troi grinned and called out, "ICZER ROBO!"

All at once the manifested image of the enormous Delta unit materialized in the space behind them, and with the speed of thought the both of them were drawn into its form, Troi once again assuming the command seat behind the faceplate, Sakura finding herself submerged in the aqueous capsule of the chest cavity, the both of them at once becoming linked through the medium of their joint mental creation.

"DO YOU THINK THAT IS GOING TO STOP ME?" Big Gold roared, rearing back and unleashing a wave of force with one hand that caused the air to shimmer and vibrate all around them.

Troi was a little slow in avoiding the brunt of this shock-wave blast, and the wave of searing force caused both women to grit their teeth and bear with the stinging sensation that was absorbed against their armored plating. Then Gold unleashed a more physical attack, rocketing forward with a fist the size of a house, almost scoring a blow before Troi managed to block it, stepping away to gain room for a kick that put some further distance between them and their assailant.

"Ow!" Sakura winced as Gold launched another blow that glanced off one armored shoulder and caused Troi to give further ground, "Watch it! You need to work on your defenses!"

"You want to come up here and drive?" Troi queried.

"I might!" Sakura snapped back, only to experience another electrical shock, and all at once she found herself sitting in a different compartment, her hands gripping controls the likes of which she barely even comprehended.

"Hey, what the Frel?" she heard Troi speak into her mind, "What am I doing in the chest plate?"

"I don't know!" Sakura cried as she felt a fist strike hard against robot armor, "How do you work these things anyway?"

"Just call on your reflexes!" Troi called back, "I'll supply you with the data..." and all at once Sakura felt Troi's warm presence fill her mind once again, and instantly she knew what the controls were for and how to work them, and without pausing to wonder why she instantly got control over their side of the battle.

Big Gold was surprised when her fist was suddenly caught within the grip of Iczer Delta, who twisted to the side and locked that arm so that Gold's massive form was forced to double over. All at once a foot came rocketing up to strike Gold across the armored mid-section, picking her up and knocking her sprawling a half kilometer's distance, the heavy form crashing down on pseudo-earth with the resounding trembling force of an earthquake.

"Hey, you are pretty good at this stuff!" Troi remarked, suitably impressed.

"I didn't play against Muku in the Arcade all those games of Robot Jox for nothing!" Sakura smirked, "The principle is the same, regardless of the type of Mecha."

"So, maybe you're not such a greenhorn after all," Troi conceded, "I take it back what I said before...it's good to have you aboard...partner."

For some reason Sakura felt enormously gratified by that statement, but Big Gold was hardly out of commission and rose back to her feet, literally seething with a towering mad-on.

"YOU ARE NOT WORTHY OF BEING MY ENEMIES!" she roared, "BUT I WILL GIVE YOU A QUICK DEATH FOR ALL THE TROUBLE YOU HAVE CAUSED ME..."

"Geez, doesn't she ever take a hint?" Sakura asked.

"I've been wondering the same thing myself," Troi replied, "No matter how many times I knock her down she just keeps coming back, madder and badder than ever."

"Then...the only way to stop her is to get her to eat the anti-virus," Sakura murmured thoughtfully, "But how do we do that? That hockey mask of hers is a real problem..."

"Huh?" Troi blinked, "What are you talking about?"

"Never mind...uh oh," Sakura gasped, seeing Gold's outline once more redouble in size, this time taking on the form of a colossal dragon that roared its hate in their direction.

"Holy Mother of Gojiro," Troi once again seemed to uncannily echo Sakura's thoughts, "Look at the size of those teeth, grandma..."

Sakura would not have admitted to being afraid at that point, but seeing a monster such as this brought back some uncomfortable memories of one of her training trips through China...of a brief stay with the Musk dynasty, and of a Prince who would not take no for an answer...

"Uh...Troi?" she gulped softly, "If you'd like to take over the cockpit again..."

"You doing just fine, Honey," Troi replied, "And please don't call it a cock-  
pit, okay?"

"Ah...yeah...whatever..."

"It's happening!" Grey said in astonishment, "Their lines are merging!"

"Synchronization," Iczer One murmured in mutual disbelief.

"Their lives will never be the same after this," Iczer Two agreed soberly.

"Big Gold is toast," Sayoko remarked with absolute confidence in her own statement...

"I just hope they're both ready for it," Nagisa agreed, fervently praying for a speedy and safe resolution.

"Only time will tell," Cobalt softly noted as all eyes turned to the matching cubicles that contained the now-glowing forms of Troi and Sakura...

The Gold Dragon reared up and launched a fiery breath on the motionless Iczer Delta, and out of reflex Sakura raised her arms and summoned her Chi to erect a force barrier that caught and deflected the brunt of the attack, though it strained her resources to maintain her mental shielding. Gold poured out all her vile hatred of life and humanity in her deadly breath weapon, and the sense of cloying toxic fumes which were kicked up by the blast caused Sakura to gag out of reflex, reeling out of loathing for the thing Gold represented.

"DIE, DAMN YOU, DIE!" Big Gold thundered.

"You first!" Sakura snapped back, only to choke on imaginary fumes, sensing the toxins seeping into the pores of her skin and numbing her body with paralysis as her Iczer Delta became totally immobile.

"Dammit..." Troi groaned, "Some kind of anti-Biotic weaponry...it's disrupting the chemistry of my Iczer Robo..."

"NOW YOU DIE!" Gold crowed as she brought the jaws of her draconic mouth crushing down on the helpless Iczer Robo, her poison-tipped fangs sinking into armored flesh and further injecting her lethal essence into the already helpless Iczer.

"No," Sakura gasped, "It's just an illusion, a stupid dream..."

"TELL YOURSELF THAT AS I CRUSH THE LIFE OUT OF YOU!" Gold cried, "THIS IS THE END OF THE ROAD FOR BOTH HUMANITY AND BIOROID AND THE BEGINNING OF THE GLORIOUS ERA OF VENOMOID GLORY!"

"No way!" Troi coughed, "You're not winning...this time...not like...Atros..."

Atros...the name suddenly filled Sakura's mind with an image of another who had once sat inside the Iczer Delta chest capsule and had witnesses a similar attack from without being launched against the Iczer. A thunderous voice above proclaiming itself as Neos Gold was heralded by a brilliant light that bathed the giant robot in its grip, and then came the searing sensation of having the literal heart ripped out of her breast as the Iczerio energies that powered the Delta Unit were stolen away, to be used later on in the creation of Atros...

The Iczerio energies...the mysterious force that gave an Iczer both her life and her power...that allowed her to convert emotion and will into a vast energy source that could be tapped into to create victory...they needed such a power right now in order to repel the perfidious poisons infecting their system...power enough to smash even the Gods...a power she drew deep within herself and brought out once more to the surface.

Unseen by anyone this time, her forebrow began to glow beneath her forelocks, a curious set of three circles in a triangular pattern taking shape as the energy within her flowed through her body, rejecting the poisons and neutralizing them as new life began to fill her entire body.

Troi felt the wave of healing radiance flood through her system and drew a deep breath within her aqueous environment, feeling the poisons be absorbed and rejected out of her Iczer Robo's body, leaving new life and vitality in its place as the shape of the Iczer began to alter itself, both internally and externally, as a new pattern emerged, one infinitely more organic.

"NOOO!" Gold cried as her draconic form was driven back by the radiance that sprang up around the Iczer Robo, "THIS CANNOT BE! YOU SHOULD BE EITHER DEAD OR DYING! HOW CAN YOU STILL LIVE? THIS MAKES NO SENSE, THIS CANNOT BE HAPPENING!"

"Deal with it," Sakura replied, feeling the changes coming over her as her appearance was altered, her outer clothing taking on a new aspect that felt both strangely alien and yet somehow quite fitting, "You're not winning this fight and you're not keeping Atros! She doesn't belong to you, and we're taking her back!"

"Heh," Troi smiled, "What a girl...Is it any wonder I love humanity?"

"WHAT?" Gold reacted, and then a sudden realization caused her to declare, "IT'S YOU! YOU'RE BEHIND THIS...SOMEHOW YOU ARE DOING THIS ALL BY YOURSELF...BUT HOW? WHAT ARE YOU?"

"More than you ever possibly understand, Bastard," Sakura replied as she willed her armored counterpart to form a solid spatula-like object and with that power that now filled her she charged it to the consistency of diamond, then charged her thrusters forward to the attack, lashing out with her massive ax-like peel to strike the Gold Monster down the middle, slicing straight through its colossal body and all the way through it.

As their transformed Mecha came to a pause the ruptured dragon body exploded as the two sections experienced massive catastrophic power failure. Sakura allowed herself to relax a little and the armored body dissolved back into nothing. Both Sakura and Troi drifted to the ground in a leisurely manner, then the two of them turned to face one another as Troi got a good look at her companions curious change in costume.

"Nice," Troi said as she looked Sakura up and down, "You made that for yourself?"

"I guess," Sakura replied, studying her own apparel now that the crisis appeared to be over, "I'm not too sure about the wardrobe, but I can't knock the tailoring, it just sort of appeared on me and felt right."

Troi nodded towards Sakura's face and asked, "What's the deal with the dots, and why are they in a triangle?"

"Huh?" Sakura reflexively reached up a hand and felt her brow, which was still covered by the curious marked tattoos, "I...don't really know...it's as if a part of me just woke up all of a sudden...URK!"

All at once Sakura's body shook with the unexpected trauma of several sharp hook-like projections penetrating her body. The massive claws of a colossal hand lifted her up as Gold reared up from seeming no where, not as large as before but still menacing and deadly.

"I'VE CHANGED MY MIND," Gold growled in seeming triumph, "I WON'T KILL YOU QUICKLY AFTER ALL...SLOWLY AND BY STAGES WILL BE MORE FITTING."

"SAKURA!" Troi cried in dismay, forming energy lances with her next thought, "Let her go, you Monster!"

"I THINK NOT," Gold replied as she held the wounded Sakura aloft, "YOU MAY HAVE THOUGHT YOU RID YOURSELF OF ME WITH THAT LAST ATTACK, BUT I AM IMMORTAL, I CAN NEVER BE DESTROYED! ALL YOUR PATHETIC STRUGGLING IS FOR NOTHING, FOR I CAN REMAKE MYSELF AS MANY TIMES AS YOU ATTEMPT TO DESTROY ME...EH?"

"It's just an illusion," Sakura grunted as she struggled against her hooks, "It isn't real...they don't exist, and neither do you, lady...!"

"YOU CAN STILL MOVE?" Gold was-if anything-more dismayed than ever, "IMPOSSIBLE! WHAT ARE YOU?"

Sakura gave off trying to free herself from the hooks, instead formed another energy spatula and hardened it, then with all her remaining strength gave it a hard toss that sent it soaring outward at an angle.

"WHAT ARE YOU...?" Gold started to cry when the spatula reversed itself and came boomeranging back at the top of its arc...heading straight for Sakura herself, much to Big Gold's confusion.

Troi reacted without thinking, her energy lances slashing out as she attacked the distracted Big Gold with one blade aimed at severing the monster's wrist. Gold cried out in pain and dismay but was unable to react in time as Troi caught Sakura up in her arms and carried her to safety...right before the peel came slicing back to imbed itself in the exposed chest of Big Gold, who howled in pain and dismay and the unexpected penetration.

Troi set Sakura down, watching as the hooks dissolved and the wound miraculously closed on Sakura's body. A moment later her friend gave a sharp gasp and came back to life in Troi's arms, further confusing the Bioroid, though Troi was hardly one to question results at this point.

"You okay?" she asked in obvious anxiety, "That was a hell of a risk you took..."

"Gah," Sakura coughed, "Tell me about it! I feel like I just got kicked in the ribs by a sledgehammer..."

"More like stabbed in the back by a big rat," Troi replied, "Not that I'm complaining, mind you, but how did you do it? Most people would have folded if they were in that much pain..."

"Give me some credit," Sakura coughed again to clear her throat, "I knew it wasn't real, even if it was bloody painful."

"You must have had some bloody good training in the mind arts," Troi mused, "Your dad teach you how to do that?"

"No, more like my great aunt," Sakura resisted Troi's efforts to have her lie down and instead stood up on her own power, albeit Troi gave her a strong shoulder to lean upon, "Only...now that I think about it, I should have asked her a lot more questions about our ancestry when I was little..."

The sound of Gold grunting as she finally managed to dislodge the baker's peel from her chest brought both girls around with similarly dismayed reactions.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Troi winced, "What's it gonna take to totally off this sucker?"

"It's a virus, right?" Sakura asked, "It must be maintained by a central program that's lodged in the core processor of your daughter's imagination. So long as it's deeply imbedded there she's going to keep on reconstituting herself from the ashes as many times as we can kill her."

"Swell," Troi winced, "So, all we gotta do is find the program and punch its light out..."

"M-M-Mom...Momma?" another voice brought them both around, this time to see a diminutive Atros rubbing her eyes with tiny fists and looking at the both of them with puzzled expressions.

"Atros-chan?" Troi said in a small, plaintive tone of voice, "I-Is that really you...?"

"More like a representation of her subconscious," Sakura replied, "In another moment she'll wake up and once again be Gold's pawn, ready to help her destroy us."

"How do you know all this stuff?" Troi asked as she turned a puzzled look towards the transformed human girl, whose hair now gleamed of silver.

"I...don't really know...or maybe I just don't know how to explain it," Sakura replied, "But I know that I'm right. We have to act now to save your daughter and totally expunge the Gold virus."

"I'm game if you've got a plan, Kid," Troi said, then winced as Gold completed repairs to her ruptured body.

"THERE, NOW THIS TIME I WILL DESTROY YOU FOR CERTAIN!" the masked Virus affirmed.

"Gimme a break," Troi winced, "Who does she think she is, Jason?"

Sakura blinked her eyes and said, "That's it! I know how to beat her!"

"How?" Troi asked.

"No time for the details," Sakura assured her, "Can you distract Gold for a few seconds?"

"I should be good for that," Troi nodded, then turned and shouted out, "HEY, STINKY-FACE! DO YOU WEAR THAT MASK ALL THE TIME TO HIDE YOUR ZITS?"

Sakura could not help smiling as she heard the raging bellow of the beast as Troi took to the air and started to draw Big Gold's attention away from her position, even as Sakura reached into her vest and pulled out the "special" okonomiyaki. She knelt down in front of the little girl and handed it out, saying, "Are you hungry, Atros-chan? This is very good for you...it's full of vitamins and it's tasty, just like my mom always makes it."

"What is it?" Atros asked with childish curiosity.

"Go ahead and have a bite," Sakura offered, willing her proffered disk to be as tasty and as wholesome as any growing child might find delicious.

"Okay," Atros said as she stretched out her hands to take the okonomiyaki, but in that moment Gold chanced to glance in their direction and saw the proffered disk for what it was and reacted in accordance with her nature.

"GET THAT AWAY FROM HER, YOU INFERNAL INTERLOPER!" Gold cried, stretching out a hand that formed into tentacles while her other arm fended off an attack by Troi's energy lances.

Sakura wasted no time vaulting backwards, creating yet another baker's peel out of mid-air before her feet touched ground again. She easily avoided the tentacles sent to ensnare her and took the opening between her and her target, tossed the okonomiyaki into the air and swatted it with her peel, sending it hurtling like a speeding hockey-puck for the unprotected mouth of the child, Atros.

The disk no sooner touched the lips of the child then it dissolved into coherent energy equations and was absorbed into Atros's body. The child shook once with the stunned reaction of a jolt of electricity coursing through her body, and then all at once a wave of new energy exploded out from her tiny form, engulfing the entire mindscape in the pulsating waves of Binomial equations that swept through everything and found every trace of Big Gold's evil virus.

The next instant reality seemed to invert itself as the ruinous landscape was blown away into fragments of nothingness, while Troi and Sakura experienced a vortex that sucked them down a very long passage, to reawaken moments later in their respective cubicles, floating once more in a sense of partial sensory deprivation.

"Wh-What...happened?" Troi asked.

"Biometric readings stabilizing," said Sister Grey from outside her capsule, "Both subjects are fully separated from Atros with no trace of the Gold Virus in their respective systems. Their life signs are returning to normal, energy harmonics also stable and holding in a mutually coherent pattern."

"Welcome back to the land of the living," Iczer Two said as she knelt down before the capsule, "The both of you gave us quite a fright there."

"You, Two?" Troi replied, "I didn't think you were scared of anything. Don't tell me you were actually worried about me for once?"

"I've always been deeply worried about you, little Sister," Two quipped back, "But I try to adjust for all your apparent shortcomings. So...I guess congratulations are in order...you've finally found yourself a partner."

"Huh?" Troi blinked her eyes, but then slowly smiled and said, "Guess maybe I have...who would have thunk it?"

"Indeed," Two nodded, turning to the other capsule, "And that means that I must offer my condolences towards you for having to bind yourself to this unscrupulous Lothario. May the Goddess take pity on your soul."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Sakura asked, right before the bio-fluid was ejected from her capsule, and then her lungs in that order. She coughed a moment as normal breathing resumed, then stepped out from the opened hatch and said, "Did something happen that I'm not aware about?"

"Only that you and Troi here nearly took five years off my own life," Sayoko answered for her, "One minute it looked like something had pierced you right through the stomach...the next minute you're as healthy and intact as ever...weird."

Troi stepped out of her cubicle and glanced around, looking faintly disappointed, "Where's Oneechan? I thought she'd be here for sure..."

"She wanted to be here for you, truly," Two replied, "The Goddess alone knows why. But unfortunately she was called away to attend to someone who truly deserves her good will and affection. Rhea was injured in combat while you were busy gallivanting about in the mind of your possessed daughter."

"Rhea got banged up again?" Troi asked, only to blink and refocus her attention, "Atros...how is...?"

"Stable...and completely clean of the virus," Grey sighed with relief, "The Anti-Virus equation worked perfectly...Gold never even knew what had hit her. Congratulations, my child...you've just made me a happy grandmother."

Troi, though still as naked as a jaybird, staggered over to the isolation booth and pressed her face up against the translucent partition, staring at the figure floating in the other regeneration booth, the dark hair curling like a mane about the face of seeming innocence that was now lacking sinister connotations.

"My...daughter," Troi murmured in disbelief, "I can't get over it...I never thought I'd wind up as somebody's mother..."

"Indeed," Iczer Two mused, "And if anything could earn her my pity, that would be it in the proverbial Earth nutshell."

"Hey, cheer up," Sayoko said as she slipped an arm around her partner's waist, "Motherhood can be great...in fact, Duella and I are thinking about joining you in the club...isn't that right, Darling?"

"Urk," Iczer Two said with a disquieted expression.

Troi felt another presence moving up beside her, and without turning her head she knew it was Sakura, who spoke a moment later and said, "You gonna be all right?"

"Yeah...I think so," Troi replied, "Thanks for everything...you really saved my bacon in there, not to mention what you just did for Atros."

"Hey, what are partners for, right?" Sakura asked, then paused, "What's a partner mean to you...exactly?"

Troi winced slightly and said, "That's...gonna take a while for me to explain...but I guess the simple way of putting it is...you're kind of stuck with me...at least for the present."

"For the present?" Sakura asked, "You mean I can count on you sucking me into your fights and joining you in that robot on future occasions?"

"Ah...yeah...that's part of it, sure," Troi sighed again and turned away from the isolation booth to stare at the other girl, "But...well...the other way of putting it is...we just...kind of got married."

There was a brief pause at that comment, followed a few seconds later by Sakura's astonished cry of, "WHAAAAAAATTT...?"

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/C'thuwulf Honeymoon Plans: shadowmane

Will Sakura consent to this sudden dramatic change in her lifestyle, will Troi be able to explain herself before getting a spatula to her face, and will Sakura's long-unmentioned fianc e be cut in on the deal, or will Ken Tofu be left standing at the altar? For this and other important dramatic events, tune in next time for: "Does This Mean We Can't Have Sex?" or "'Til Death do you Part!" Be there?

X -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	24. Chapter 24

Earthchild24

The Earthchild

(A Ranma/Iczer/Sailor Moon Crossover)

by Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi,  
Toshihiro Hirano, Naoko Takeuchi, Hitoshi Okuda,  
Johannes Huber and Others)

Chapter Twenty-Four.

"So, what is your report, Agent Yuri?"

"Colonel-san," Asamori Yuri responded, "After careful and methodical study of the recent wave of paradimensional attacks, our department has concluded that the enemy known as Big Gold has been mounting what amounts to a series of escalating probing attacks, each one much stronger and more intense than the ones before it. She is strengthening her forces by honing her techniques in bio-molecular sculpture by learning from each and every defeat that she has so far encountered, and given that her resources appear to be limitless, it is reasonable to suggest that the worst is yet to come our way. This last attack threatened to destroy a sizeable portion of the Island of Honshu, who knows how dramatic the next encounter will be, or if our C'thuwulf allies will be a match for her perfidy. It all depends on where the ultimate threshold may be for these Iczers and their human partners."

"I see," replied Colonel Sharon Rogers, supreme Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Supreme Headquarters International Espionage and Law Enforcement Division) as she leaned her chin on her hands and steepled her fingers together, "So your superiors at Department O believe that we may be headed for a major crisis that will dwarf all of the others so far experienced to date...and that you have concerns regarding the C'thuwulf ability to manage these escalating crises?"

"It would not be my place to speculate, Colonel-san," Yuri replied, "But it is a logical concern at this time given how casually the enemy threatened the very existence of the Japanese Home Islands. To date her concerns seem to be centered upon eliminating the Iczers, who have demonstrated the greatest tenacity in resisting her plans for invasion..."

"But you don't think we should continue to rely upon the C'thuwulf alone to effectively deal with this crisis?" Colonel Rogers asked in a manner that did not imply it to be an actual question, "I see...so do you have any other proposals for dealing with this particular enemy, given that the technology gap between ourselves and their technology is literally astronomical..."

"This is regrettably so, Colonel-san," Yuri replied, "My Department shares your concern regarding our inability to counteract a technology that can quite effortlessly transport any object of considerable size and mass into the realm of Subspace and effectively trap it there for an indeterminate duration. Both the Avengers and League of Justice were lured into such a trap during the second wave attack headed by Neos Gold almost fifteen years ago, and the ease with which they neutralized our conventional military defenses leaves one to wonder if the preparations we have taken since then have amounted to anything substantial. I am certain that your scientists, as well as those who loyally serve Japan, have labored exhaustively to come up with a means of counteracting their technology...with...indifferent results, we are just as certain."

Carol could only smile in response to that, security protocols making a more detailed response something problematical, a fact she considered a nuisance, though she had been in the Spy trade for virtually her entire adult life. Instead she turned to the man seated to her left and asked, "General Straker...do you feel at liberty to field that question?"

"Ah, yes," the silver haired Commander of the Supreme Headquarters Alien Defense Command affirmed, "Well, as you all know, my agency has worked the closest of anyone to the C'thuwulf over the past decade, and we at S.H.A.D.O. been charged with reviewing those technological innovations that the C'thuwulf have deemed sufficiently safe to share with us, so we can state for a fact that we have limited means at our disposal that might prove effective against the enemy, but nothing that comes close to comparing with the full power of a Synchronized Iczer..."

"And what is it that your people alone have access to this new technology, General?" asked a granite-faced man (who would only identify himself as K), representing the shadowy organization known only as MIB, "We have some pretty advanced gizmos of our own and we've been handling them since long before your outfit was even founded."

"There is no doubting the extent of your experience or the breadth of your agency's knowledge of Alien cultures and technologies, K," Straker replied, "But the MIB is primarily an Interplanetary Witness Protection Program that deals with individual cases of extraterrestrial immigration and naturalization. You may be gifted with the means of monitoring and intercepting worldwide penetration on a case-by-case basis, but the mass immigration of the C'thuwulf to Colony Zone Alpha is a task that S.H.A.D.O. was better suited to carry out...with the full cooperation of the Japanese authorities, including your Department, Agent Yuri."

"Gentlemen," Sharon spoke up, "This is neither the time nor the place for a turf war. We each have our assigned places and roles to fulfill in the defense of the planet Earth and its various peoples. The C'thuwulf have been an invaluable ally for all of our respective departments, but we would be remiss to rely entirely on their means for our collective defense. Now, perhaps an overview of our encounters with the enemy so far to date might give us some idea of what we may be facing in the very near future. Agent Yuri?"

"As you wish, Colonel-san," Yuri bowed, then began as holographic images were summoned up to act as visual aids to her accompanying lecture, "As you may already know, the C'thuwulf hail from an alien star system many thousands of lightyears apart from our own, a very ancient civilization many millennia old whose genetic structure is so close to a match to our own that they must either be distantly related or else incline one to believe in a near-miraculous parallel evolution..."

The image of a humanoid female was called up alongside that of an Earth female, and then a male body appeared alongside it them, complete with DNA graphic illustrations.

"These C'thuwulf are all female...they have no men in their society whatsoever," Agent Yuri continued, "It is believed-through a scenario proposed by our Xenobiology division, based on the recreation of evidence formed by their legends and some creative speculation on our part-that at one time they were just as bisexual as we humans of Earth are today, but that something in their past...possibly a war or some great calamity...caused the men of their world to die off, forcing the surviving women to reproduce themselves by artificial means, perhaps some early form of recombinant DNA technology that has since been perfected into their current means of procreation..."

"If they had an early form of this technology to begin with, then why didn't they use it to recreate the men in their population?" asked a distinguished looking old woman, identified only by her code-name as "M," representing MI-6 of Great Britain.

"We believe the original source of their problem to be a biological weapon...a disease that targeted only those possessing the Y-chromosome, which is male exclusive," Yuri replied, "If such a radical terror weapon could be perfected, then it might have taken decades for their scientists to come up with an effective cure, rather like the AIDS crisis of the late twentieth century, by which point their population might have died off altogether, or-at the very least-all women of childbearing age would either experience menopause or be rendered sterile. The virus theory holds well with the possibility that the surviving female half of their branch of the human species might have adapted to and developed a natural resistance to the disease, so that by the time they had perfected a cure there was no longer a recognizable use for it, and so women alone would be created to repopulate their society, giving them a means of stabilizing their numbers well on unto the present."

"Is such a virus even possible?" asked the French Intelligence representative, a fellow by the name of Clouseau (though he insisted that he was NOT the famous-  
or rather infamous-gentleman Inspector by that name).

"More than possible," Agent Yuri replied, "There have even been persistent rumors that certain laboratories here on Earth have dabbled in the creation of such a virus, and-if not for the efforts of some of those who sit here this day-then we might well have experienced the same crisis as befell the C'thuwulf, in which case, gentlemen, many of you would not now be attending this meeting."

All the men sitting down in this assembly council looked appropriately chagrined at the thought while their female colleagues hid smiles at their discomfort.

The Russian Security Aparachik, a distinguished blonde man named Kuryakin, shifted uncomfortably in his chair and spoke up, "While it is neither the intention of my government to confirm or deny these rumors...let us just say that we are aware of certain efforts that have been undertaken in that direction. Needless to say, quiet efforts have been made to see to it such a lethal biological weapon is never allowed to threaten the security of the public at large..."

"Or else we'd all be crying Uncle, huh?" Agent K asked with a hint of wry amusement.

Sharon had to stifle an urge to smile at these exchanged comments, but the need to conduct an effective and orderly meeting of the World Security Council dictated that she nod to Agent Yuri and say, "Please continue with your explanation."

"As you wish, Colonel-san," Yuri nodded back then resumed, "We do not know how far back in time it was that the C'thuwulf began experimenting with their process of genetic recombination, we only know that they now consider their means of externalized test-tube reproduction to be entirely natural to their continuing society, so much so that their Uteral and Fallopian reproductive organs have nearly atrophied to a vestigial condition. It is possible to restimulate these organs through a combination of therapy and hormonal implant, in which case their bodies can conceive and sustain a human embryo in an entirely normal fashion, which has been demonstrated repeatedly by those rare instances of human and C'thuwulf mating which have taken place over the past decade of our close association. The very fact that we are genetically compatible does well to suggest that we are-in fact-one people separated by a bridge of countless millennia...possibly stretching back well over a hundred thousand Earth years, though some estimates hold the number as close to half a million."

"In other words they're not really aliens at all," Straker spoke up, "They're more like Sisters of Man come home to join our common family on this, our home planet. We don't really know what caused the separation to occur, but possibly there was an ancient lost civilization to which we both belonged, now long deceased, for which we have only the half-forgotten relics to serve as evidence that it even existed."

"Quite so, General-san," Yuri resumed, "There are many precedents that we can site as examples of more recent alien-world contact...the Jurai and the Oni, for example, are unquestionably parallel to human and must also have borne a common ancestry. Then there are the Colonials themselves...but enough said on this subject as it is not pertinent to the immediate matter at hand..."

"Quite so," said another handsome blonde man of indeterminable age, who steepled his own fingers and said, "Please continue."

"As you wish...Captain," Yuri could not hold back on a certain lilt in her voice, as one might only have when addressing a living legend, "The C'thuwulf are very proud of their culture and heritage, and justifiably so, but many years ago they suffered a calamity that nearly destroyed their entire civilization. An alien presence...like a computer virus of a magnitude that we cannot even begin to comprehend...attacked the central computer of their homeworld, upon which their entire star-faring culture depended and caused it to go rogue, leading to a catastrophic shut-down which resulted in the eventual destruction of their home system. The survivors of this calamity pooled their remaining resources in order to create the arc-like World Ship that was to become their home for many years unto the present. This moon-sized orbital body now remains in stationary orbit around the Earth's moon and serves as their Colony distribution point, not to mention the repository and storage center of all that is left of the original C'thuwulf star system. Close to twenty years ago their Worldship arrived within the Earth star system..."

"This was during the first Big Gold Invasion, right?" Agent K inquired.

"Correct," Yuri replied, "Understand, when the C'thuwulf became exiles they went in search of an uninhabited world capable of sustaining life...but this presented a rather tall order as most of the likely worlds which they encountered were already inhabited or colonized worlds belonging to other star-  
faring or developing civilizations. By the time they came upon Earth they had already scanned hundreds of worlds, which had to be disqualified as they did not wish to impose their presence on a less developed culture. That ended when the Avatar known as Big Gold arrived to commandeer their Worldship under the promise of giving the C'thuwulf a new homeworld..."

"Meaning Earth," Straker grimly summarized in a terse two-word statement.

"Correct again, General-san," Yuri replied, "Given their extremely advanced technology, a takeover of our world was a virtual certainty, and-without the inconvenience of a conscience to impede them-they might well have crushed humanity and created a new empire out of the ashes of our world. That was the intention of Big Gold, who had infected the C'thuwulf with the Venomoid plague..."

"Excuse me," Kuryakin spoke up, "That part needs a bit of clarification, I believe...who are these Venomoids?"

"Not who," Straker replied, "What...definitely a what."

"Indeed," Yuri replied, calling up a holographic image that was more like a walking nightmare, "The Venomoids are an entirely alien, parasitic species whose origins are even more shrouded in mystery than the C'thuwulf themselves. What is known about them is that they serve Big Gold as her legion of shock troops...only they are much more like a plague of locusts who get released into the general population in the form of spore-like nodules, which in turn find and infect likely host bodies and gradually incubate inside their hosts before erupting out and taking over their hosts...effectively killing them from within, making these Venomoids a clear and present threat to all of humanity. Fortunately we have developed effective means for eradicating these parasites while they are in the early stages of incubation. We gained this knowledge from our C'thuwulf allies themselves, though some elements have since been perfected by our own scientists working independently of each other...and I believe that both S.H.A.D.O. and MIB have deployed agents to infected areas to help contain and eradicate the Venomoid infection."

Both Straker and Agent K nodded tacitly in acknowledgement of this subject.

"There are some indications that Big Gold herself might be a product of Venomoid technology," Yuri resumed, "Though details on this subject are-at best-  
rather sketchy. It is suspected that a hostile alien menace deliberately infected the C'thuwulf Homeworld computer with the Gold Virus in order to create an Avatar employing C'thuwulf technology to the purpose of eradicating the C'thuwulf altogether..."

"An Avatar," the French representative spoke up, "That is a term for an Android who serves as a physical embodiment of a central mainframe, correct?"

"Precisely," Yuri turned to the holographic display of a female model whose eyes were larger than normal and whose ears were distinctly pointed, "Although the C'thuwulf technology is Organic rather than electronic in nature, the analogy to an LMD is not too much of a stretch. Life Model Decoys originally were fairly crude and robot-like, but we have since created androids who synthesize the organic model to such an astonishing degree that even a bioscan might not be able to tell one from the other..."

"We know," Sharon said blandly, "My predecessor...had some difficulties in that regard before we identified and corrected the problem of a rogue Bioroid rebellion."

"Just so," Yuri continued, "But the C'thuwulf devised a rather...unique means of avoiding this problem altogether. When they first conceived of the Iczer model they realized that they could devise a Bioroid who could become so immensely powerful that a single Iczer would pack more personal firepower than a Juraian battle cruiser. The danger of such a being going rogue and turning on her creators was certainly contemplated, but then avoided by the simple means of creating an inherent dependence in the Iczer for a human partner. Rather than generating their own internal power source of unlimited potential, they turned the Iczer into a living transducer who would link with a human partner and draw upon that link as a source of nearly limitless psychic and emotional energy. Of necessity only a few humans are capable of the degree and level of raw power that would be needed...but having such a dependence forces an Iczer to establish a co-dependent bond with a human woman, and thus they gain a human perspective that keeps their loyalties firmly grounded in a pro-C'thuwulf position."

"But something went wrong when Big Gold was created," Straker nodded in a manner intended to further prompt the exploration of the matter.

"Exactly so," Yuri nodded, "Iczer One was created as the first prototype of the Iczer Model, but Big Gold was a radical departure from the Iczer model, a mutation-if you will-created by the Virus that had coopted their Great Central Computer to avoid the dependence of a human partner. Big Gold is purely a machine inside and out...organic in structure and yet wholly lacking in humanity and containing an internal power source of near-limitless power, effectively making her functionally independent...though we believe that she still requires machine assistance for regular maintenance and internal supervision. That suggests that the current Big Gold is in command of a huge central complex existing on a parallel world where she remains in authority, unlike in our own reality where she is a faded memory who effectively never really made it."

"That's the part that gives my department some real headaches," Agent K remarked, "We picked up some real flack from the Time Police over a Reality Inversion that gave their own operators real nightmares."

"Temporal Overlay is not a unique phenomenon," Straker noted, turning with a slight smile towards the blonde man sitting close beside Colonel Rogers, "I believe the Captain here has more experience on that subject than anyone else here at this table, especially during what we laughingly call the Kang wars..."

"Don't remind me of that," the blonde man in question smiled back, "Just thinking about it sometimes gives me a headache."

"With respect to you all, honored Sirs," Yuri spoke up again, "We owe the continuation of life on this world to this particular incident of Temporal Overlay, which was implemented by Iczer One upon her victory over Big Gold, where she gained immense power from the C'thuwulf Great Machine and employed it to unravel the damage to our timeline brought about by Gold and her minions. This restored the C'thuwulf to what they were as wanderers before being infected by the Venomoid plague and is why many who died during the first Gold War were restored to life with only residual memories that the incident had ever occurred in the first place. However...it now seems that the overlay may not have been as entirely effective as we at first believed..."

"The evidence of which is the return Big Gold's evil," M remarked matter-of-  
factly.

"Just so," Yuri replied, "Big Gold's return is...troubling...and we know that the C'thuwulf are exploring the matter in some detail since it is clearly their own technology that is being used against them."

"What security protocols are the C'thuwulf employing over this matter?" Clouseau inquired.

"Their Worldship is under full security alert with regular patrols of their Iczelion warriors running frequent cross-scans of both Real Space and Subspace channels," Yuri replied, "Gamora Base and City are under similar security protocols with traffic being rigorously monitored both to and from the complex. With over one million of their own citizens...one percent of their total refugee population, left exposed on planet, and thousands of others passing among normal human society as agents, operatives and resident alien civilians...you can imagine that they are doing all that they can imagine to insure that Gold makes no further attempts to infiltrate the Tokyo region. With agents from all our respective departments working around the clock to purge those who were infected with the Venomoid plague-especially that outbreak detected in the Jubaan district-we hope to stabilize the crisis area...at least until the next fiendish assault is launched at us from Big Gold and her agents."

"And that brings us to those heroines who've been so far instrumental in resisting the enemy's efforts," Sharon replied, "What more can you tell us about them?"

Yuri turned to the holographic display once again, which called up the images of the first two Iczers and their respective human partners, "As you well know by now, Colonel-san, Iczer One lost her original partner back on their homeworld during the outbreak of the first Gold crisis. She found a new partner in the form of a young Earth girl named Kano Nagisa, then fourteen, who was able to Synchronize with her to achieve energy levels far greater than Gold herself was able to manifest as a counter. Iczer Two was created by Gold to be her nemesis but initially died in battle against her fully synchronized sister, only to be resurrected five years later during the Second Gold war, when Neos Gold attempted a takeover of this planet. Somehow Neos was able to draw across the timefield to the original timeline in order to revive her, only to watch in dismay when Iczer Two rejected her cause and sided instead with her sister. Five years after this, when Iczer Two had fully rejoined the C'thuwulf and assumed her current mantle as their Military commander, she met and bonded with another Earth girl named Sayoko Kai, who for the past ten years has been her devoted partner. Iczer One now holds the title of Protector for her people...a kind of formalized Presidency and Military General who has overall command over the C'thuwulf society, though she delegates much of the actual running of society to their symbolic leader, Sir Violet...sort of a combination Prime Minister, Lady Pope and Queen who has the title, Mother of Us All..."

"You don't say?" mused M, who seemed more than slightly taken by the notion.

Yuri altered the image to reflect a different set of Iczers, then called up the imagery of two more Earth girls and said, "Iczer Three-or Troi, as she prefers to be known these days-began her career almost fifteen years ago during the Second Gold war. She became active as a relative child, yet her immense power and ability to bond with Nagisa Kano gave her the ability to defeat Neos Gold and her four minions known as the Sisters of the Comet. When the C'thuwulf were given residency status she was the first of her sisters to adapt to Earth life and has freely moved about from C'thuwulf to Earth society with a fairly uninhibited air that is almost...human in the degree to which she interacts with normal people. However...it seems that she has made a recent conquest who has proven to be a bit more than even she was prepared to handle...one Sakura Saotome by name, her current partner whose assistance was critical in overcoming a revived Atros...who was herself once believed to be a clone of Iczer Three but has now been confirmed as her renegade daughter through a combination of her genetics and those of her original partner, Nagisa."

"Her daughter?" blond haired man next to Colonel Rogers spoke up, "You mean...a second generation Iczer?"

"One of the first," Yuri replied, "Which makes the designation of our next intrepid warrior suspect since Iczer Four...or Rhea Kano, was believed to be the first of a new generation of Iczer, a hybrid combining the genetic makeup of Iczer one and her life partner, Nagisa."

"My goddaughter," Straker remarked, "The proud apple in the eye of her parents, who has already demonstrated her abilities in repeated battles spanning the past rather active week, during which she has been forming ties with her own new partner..."

"...Muku Dori Senzenen," Yuri referred to the next image, "A rather special child in her own right, who has bonded with Iczer Four in progressively more intense phases and is slowly coming to grips with a world much larger and far stranger than even she has been prepared to acknowledge until now...and indeed, all indications are that her struggles with being the partner to an Iczer are only just beginning."

"And what of this other hybrid Iczer we've been hearing about?" Agent K inquired, "The one calling herself Nova?"

"Nova Kano," Yuri replied with a sigh as she called up the next image of a cherry-pink haired Iczer, "The alleged daughter of Nagisa and Iczer Two, who has not been seen since her initial battle but is suspected of being out there waiting for another chance to get at the Iczers. As with Atros, she seems to be possessed by a limited version of the Gold Virus, which infects her thoughts and governs her actions...and with the power of an Iczer behind her..."

"She could be trouble, yes?" Clouseau asked.

"I'd count on it," Stranger replied ominously, "Big Gold has plans...for all of us...and somehow Nova will have to be at the center of it all...but when the next attack comes I wonder if we'll even see it before it develops?"

"Perhaps not," Colonel Rogers replied, "In which case all of our various departments should be ready...just in case this one proves too much to handle."

"I wonder about that," her husband mused as he smiled in a curious manner.

"Something on your mind, Steve?" Sharon asked with an upraised eyebrow.

"Just an impression I've been forming," he replied, "This Big Gold seems to be relying rather heavily on technology and new advanced weaponry, as if looking for the right combination to achieve the victory that's been eluding her...but I've known more than my share of world-beaters who've made the same mistake of underestimating the human element. And in my experience there's nothing that matters more than the human will to be free, and against the spunk these youngsters are demonstrating...well, let's just say that I wouldn't want to be in Gold's shoes for anything."

"I sincerely hope that you are correct, Captain-san," Yuri replied, "But just in case...we all should make ourselves ready..."

Muku found her mind wandering off of her classes as the teacher droned on about some boring math problems. Compared with fighting against the monsters of another dimension, sitting in the undamaged wing of the Furinkan school complex was a trial and a half. Simple boredom and monotony were proving to be adversaries to which a mere beam saber could have no relative power.

It figured that the school administration would find some way to get classes going again, at least on a temporary level. The venerable old building was virtually a landmark to itself, and though it had repeatedly been subjected to punishing blows over the years, still the adults always found a way of restoring a semblance of normality to the place after each spectacular crisis. Muku wondered if a building could have such a thing as a soul, or even a consciousness after all the abuse to which it had been subjected, but the old complex just refused to lay down and die, so a simple thing like a giant foot collapsing a part of one wall was merely taken in stride as just another incident in the long and varied career of Furinkan High School (laughingly called "Martial Arts U" by the students of their arch-rivals at Tomobiki).

Muku was seriously bored, and yet at the same time feeling a level of anxiety that was difficult to place. It had been over two days since the incident with the Grey twins and no word from Rhea, in spite of the Bioroid's assurance that she would return as soon as she was able. Muku wondered that she could be feeling such distress over the simple fact of not knowing what had happened to her artificial friend, or what had become of her after the fight, and with so many other confusing things going down over the previous couple of days (such as Sakura mysteriously going AWOL, only to surface again the next day with hardly a word of explanation) Muku had found little opportunity for exploring that mystery, leaving a lot of ugly thoughts to her imagination.

She glanced off into the corner to where Sakura was sitting at ease at her own desk, looking intently at the schoolboard and resisting Muku's attempts at starting up a private conversation. It figured that Sakura would find this stuff interesting, of course...History was one of her favorite and best subjects...but to deliberately ignore Muku in such a way was mystifying, especially given the recent revelations about the young chef's personal feelings towards her.

And then there was Ken, who sat beside Sakura but could not keep from glancing sidelong in her direction with a notably puzzled expression. His iinazuke was keeping to herself a lot of late, and when asked why, Sakura would only shrug and say that she had some "issues" that she needed to sort out. Definitely troubling, and it was irking Ken off to no end that even his gentle ribbing and teasing or suggestive comments were not provoking the usual heated reaction to which he was by now quite accustomed. Even flashing his trademark camera and leeringly suggesting that he was hoping to get some good pictures of Sakura in compromising places (such as the showers, though even for him this was reckless to even hint at) did not so much as earn a peep out of her or a flash of dangerous temper. This was definitely not a healthy sign since Sakura had long been jealous of her privacy and would wield her big spatula on the head of anyone who dared to make such suggestions regarding Ken selling nude photos of her around the campus. (He had done it several times, of course, and was the only male yet living who could have pulled off such a thing, though his profits for that last take had been enormous).

Yumi had not exactly been much of a help during this time, being all too readily quick to leap to conclusions or make wry suggestions regarding her friends and their sexual antics. Yumi kept on urging Muku to try and make contact with Rhea, to find out what she could on her "hotline" (her word for the bracelet that Muku now wore everywhere like a bad habit), and-of course-Yumi seemed firmly convinced that Muku and Rhea were now effectively "an item," a charge that Muku found herself powerless to refute since she was feeling such an emptiness without Rhea in her picture. Of course Yumi was always the casual one in their odd little group, the one most in touch with and at ease with her own feelings, and so the quickest to urge that others take themselves a little less seriously and "let it all hang out." At times Muku truly envied her friend's ability to express herself without any fear of social ostracism.

And then there was Yui, who had turned up missing again shortly after the conclusion of the last giant robot fight, though this by itself was neither alarming nor quite as surprising. Yui came and went as best she was able with her frazzled directional sense, and so Muku was much less alarmed about the missing "Lost Girl," even though she knew that there were "issues" of their own that needed resolving, such as Yumi's hinted complaints about Muku neglecting her "other girlfriends."

Did Yui actually feel that way towards Muku? Was Sakura miffed with her because Muku had grown so close to Rhea? Muku wondered about her own feelings towards them, two of her closest friends and sometime sparring partners, whose opinions she highly valued and whose friendship, for her, was virtually a sacred trust. About the only one close to her these days who was acting halfway normally was Perm, who had her own concerns regarding her two vanished siblings, both her twin and older brother. The knowledge that Gel and Godai were presently in the clutches of an enemy who wanted them all dead was not exactly the sort of thing that could be borne so stoically by an ordinary girl, but Perm managed as best she was able, outwardly putting on a brave face around her friends, though her eyes were often sad now and showed the hidden tears that pride would permit her to shed in public.

What were they going to do about that, and could anything be done, or were Gel and Godai lost to them forever? In perfect candor, Muku did not know what to think or feel regarding that. The pair had been a thorn in her sides for some time now, a literal pain in the rear with Godai flattering her and offering roses to match his flowery speeches, while Gel hurled insults and (quite frequently) heavier objects. What was her life to be like without their constant nuisance keeping her on her toes and looking out for possible danger? More to the point, how would their parents cope with the loss of two of their children? Muku felt bad for their sake, and hated the part of herself that actually exulted at being free from the "Twin Menace." She wished for some miracle to help them restore her nominal rivals to their full hale and hearty (if infuriating) selves, even if it meant having to put up with their constant challenges for the remainder of the next five semesters!

The teacher was still droning on about the period in pre-Tokugawa Japan that followed the chaotic period of the reign of the Taiko, Nobunaga. Feudal Japan had certainly been a very brutal-if-interesting place, but if the teacher really wanted to see a Samurai-type battle, then he should try executing the maneuvers in a pair of hundred-meter tall robots...

"(Truly, that would be something to see,)" a familiar voice murmured inside her head, startling Muku, who almost jumped out of her chair in surprise.

"(Rhea-chan?)" she thought aloud, sensing the acknowledgement of her nominal companion.

"(I am sorry if I have worried you, Muku-chan,)" Rhea telepathed back, "(I truly would have been with you sooner, after recovering from my wounds, but...my Aunt Two insisted on retraining me after hearing about our last battle. She insisted that my combat skills needed further honing before I could return to the field of battle, so I have been in Neural Space working out with her while my body was repaired in the regeneration chamber.)"

"(You've been healing for three days?)" Muku remarked with concern, "(I didn't think you were that badly injured...)"

"(I wasn't,)" Rhea replied, "(But the fact that I was even injured at all made my Aunt insist on keeping me there until she was satisfied that I had fully regained 100% of my operating power levels. You have yet to meet her...she's quite stern in some things, but I know she means well...though I have been more worried about you, Muku-chan, and what you've been up to in my absence.)"

Muku had to smile at this and felt the warmth of emotion flowing between them through their rapport, "(I've mostly been worried sick about you, Honey. Why didn't you at least give me a call, or have someone tell me that you were all right?)"

"(I am...sorry about that,)" Rhea replied with some chagrin, "(Next time I will remember to do that, but Neural Space does not have much in the way of external amenities, and dialing out is not as simple a matter as calling for take-out.)"

"(What's this Neural Space anyway?)" Muku mentally asked, "(Is it like Subspace...?)"

"(Not exactly,)" Rhea explained, "(It is not a physical reality outside the normal bounds of time and space...Neural Space exists in the Main Memory banks of the C'thuwulf central relays...it is a kind of organic-electronic field, similar to Virtual Reality within a computer. It exists solely in the mind, though it has the consistency of four-dimensional space, and many of us go there when our bodies are resting to socialize and interact in a Virtual World that seems entirely real to the senses.)"

"(You mean you get to play around while you sleep?)" Muku thought wryly, "(That sounds kind of neat...)"

"(In a way it is,)" Rhea seemed amused as she added with an odd lilt, "But nothing can substitute for actually existing in the realm of the body when it comes to the sort of interaction that truly matters between partners.)"

"(Huh?)" Muku blinked, suffering a moment of delayed comprehension before getting the full reference, at which point she abruptly colored and thought, "(Oh.)"

Rhea was beginning to say something else when Muku felt an object bounce off of the back of her head, which startled her out of her reverie, even though it had been nothing more than a wadded up ball of paper.

"Hey!" Yumi stage-whispered, "Space Case...pay attention! The Teacher's looking at you, not to mention the rest of the classroom!"

"Huh?" Muku said aloud, only to turn and see that the vast majority of her fellow students were looking at her with frankly puzzled expressions, not the least of them being Sakura.

"Miss Senzenen," the Teacher herself said sternly, "I do trust that there is a reason why you are taking a nap with your eyes open in my class?"

"Ah...sorry, Teach-I mean, Sensei," Muku hastily said, then added in a mental afterthought, "(Gotta go for now, Honey, before everybody here thinks I'm a brain donor or something.)"

"(Well, we certainly don't want that,)" Rhea affirmed, sounding mildly chagrined, "(I am sorry if I'm getting you into trouble again...that was never my intention...)"

"(Don't sweat it," Muku thought automatically before wondering softly, "(By the way...just where are you right now?)"

"(Look to your left, in the tree just outside the window,)" Rhea urged.

Muku turned her glance to the side and saw a figure perched in a tree quite close at hand. Rhea smiled back at her then vanished from the spot again, leaving Muku to marvel that she had ever been there to begin with.

"Is there something interesting that you'd like to share with us, Miss Senzenen?" the Teacher asked again.

"Um...no, Sensei," Muku replied, hoping she was not about to be called upon to answer a question on the subject of their lecture.

"Are you feeling all right?" that murmured line came from Sakura, of all people.

"Uh...sure," Muku turned and looked back at the other girl, "Could we talk after class?"

Sakura seemed about to say no, but then she shrugged her shoulders and said, "All right...we...have some things that we need to discuss."

Muku felt overwhelmingly grateful that Sakura seemed agreeable to a discussion of the unspoken issues that now lay between them, but she worried that she might not know what to say about this point. Her feelings were in such a tangled jumble these days, and after the frantic events of the past week or so she was hardly in a state of mind to know what her own thoughts would be in regards to Sakura. She sensed Yumi smile and felt more grateful that at least someone would be on hand to play arbiter and go-between for these less-than-settled issues, but even so she did not know how she was going to explain to Sakura about the bonds which she now shared with Rhea, nor could she anticipate how Sakura would react to the news that Muku now felt closer to the alien Bioroid than ever.

But Sakura was her best friend, had been one nearly all of their lives, and she deserved to hear the truth. Muku wanted to maintain their friendship and now allow any sort of a wedge to grow up between them. She hoped that Sakura would understand and be willing to give her more time to sort out the mess that was her emotions...the last thing she wanted to do was to wind up alienating Sakura or even to turn her against her, not that she could blame the other girl for being hurt at being effectively excluded.

But then again, how could she expect Sakura to know what she was going through? It wasn't exactly the kind of thing that loaned itself to easy explanations, but at least her friend had some distance to be objective, not like with poor Muku, who found herself drawn to another girl who-at least technically-was not truly human...

The bus driver came to a halt at the curb then turned and said, "Cherry Hill Shrine, last stop, all out!"

The door to the side of the buss pneumatically hissed open, but there was no one there whom the driver could see, which puzzled him greatly as he could have sworn that someone had pulled the lever signaling the need for a stop. He shrugged his shoulders and closed the doors again, then drove away to complete his daily loop, not seeing the small, black, four-footed form that sat on the curve getting the lay of his bearings.

"Now, let's see," said Agent P, to all external senses a small black pig wearing an "innocent" looking collar, "That should be it right there. Have to take a few stairs to get to the thing...least it's not as bad as when I go to visit Agent Y at the Masaki shrine...oh well..."

He started out with a sure-footed (okay, hoofed, are you happy?) gait in the direction of the Shrine, thinking of the last time he had looked up his wayward cousin, who had the odd distinction of being possessed by a Cursed man who nominally shared the same body. When first he had encountered his benighted kinsman there had been neither memory nor intelligence on the opposite end of their initial conversation. The boy named Hibiki Ryoga had been firmly in charge and did not even remember which litter had spawned him, let alone what his actual origins were, all of that being deeply submerged beneath the mind of the cursed victim.

P knew they shared a unique legacy, having both been spawned as a genetic experiment by the notorious Mad Scientist, Washu at least a couple of their family's generations back. P and his immediate relations now numbered in the hundreds and virtually counted as a life form unto themselves, being members of a unique porcine family designed to serve as nominal "pets" to certain high-  
placed members of the Jurai Royal family, their intelligence and resourcefulness having been bred into them in order to make them good operatives and body-guards for their nominal "owners." P still had a rank and commission with the Jurai Intelligence services under the direct authority of Queen Funaho, even though his first charge-the Princess Sasami-had long since grown into full womanhood and had adopted a new "pet" in the form of a Cabbit named "Ryo-Oki."

"Hmph," he muttered to himself aloud, "Thrown over for a Cabbit...there oughta be a law about that..."

P had long since gone on to bigger and better assignments, of course, even after his charge had snuck aboard her sister's ship and gone into suspended animation for around seven hundred years, give or take a few decades. he was now a highly respected member of the Galaxy Police, given Inspector ranks and charged with broad latitudes of power and authority after an impressive number of arrests of some of the Galaxy's worst criminal offenders. He had lived long enough to see his family grow and prosper, but he never forgot a kinsman, and keeping track of this one had become something of a part-time obsession. To the best of his knowledge, his cousin was only one of three representatives of their family who had-by a strange quirk of circumstances-gained residency status upon this backwater colony planet. His other cousin-who lived in America-was a bit of a hick with the manners of the country and a strong Arkansas accent that he only rarely displayed (mainly because he wanted to avoid being locked up in someone's laboratory if discovered for his ability to speak human) and had recently been given the assignment of protecting the daughter of a former President, who was herself considering a run for Congress.

P wheezed along as he took each step in turn, not that easy or simple a task when you happen to be a "runt" pig who stood around nine inches from the ground at shoulder level. Humans were baffling for their ability to create special ramps for people in wheel chairs, but having no thought at all for intelligent beings who had to leg it cloven-hoof style, but still it was not that far of a walk from the stairs to the temple, and by progression he came in sight of the living quarters, hoping that his kinsman would be around this time instead of wandering lost on some other part of the damned planet...

"There you are!" cried a familiar voice in triumph, "I thought I'd catch you trying to slink home again after chickening out on the ceremony!"

"Excuse me?" P turned to see a familiar angry-faced human woman of surpassing beauty who was dressed in a Shrine Maiden's outfit, long dark lavender-tinted hair waving like an ebony mantle about her slender shoulders.

"Don't try and weasel out on me this time, Mister!" she declared, "You're going back inside the shrine, and this time we're going to carry out the ritual exorcism, and don't even think about trying to run away again if you know what's good for you!"

"Madam," P tried to sound diplomatic, "I think there's been a slight mistake..."

"You bet there is, Ryoga!" the ebon-haired beauty growled as she reached down a hand and grabbed Agent P by his collar, hauling him up to eye-level (and pointedly ignoring the frantic way that P started to kick his hooves and gag for air while being choked on his own collar), "You think I went to all this trouble trying to get this ceremony down just right, only to have you chicken out and try to run out on me at the last second? I'm telling you, this time I've done my research and I know that this spell will work. So what if the other attempts at curing you all ended up as disasters? The point is to never give up on trying-huh?"

She broke off on her stern lecture, turning her head in time to see a nearly identical girl chasing after yet another black pig, this one wearing his trademark bandana, which caused her to take a second look at the pig currently suspended in her hand (who by now would be turning blue were it not that he was completely covered in black short hairs), and after an appropriate double-take she asked curiously, "You're not...Ryoga?"

P was beyond the point of signaling in any way that he was not, and when Hibiki Rei finally fathomed the reason why she hastily put him down before he could lose consciousness altogether. Her attitude went immediately from angry to contrite as she said, "Oh, I'm so sorry, Agent P...I didn't realize it was you...I thought you were my husband...!"

"Evidently," P coughed out, taking several moments to clear his throat before continuing again, "You see a bandana on me anywhere, lady? That oughta be a give away that I'd definitely NOT your husband...and thank the powers that be for that!"

Rei frowned a little at the implied insult, but the next minute she turned and saw her identical twin approaching with another black pig firmly in hand, this one wisely not putting up any kind of a struggle as if he knew full well that such resistance would be futile.

"Caught him!" her other half crowed, "Finally, now we can get on with the Ritual of Separation and...huh?" she blinked, "Another Ryoga?"

"No," he said pointedly, "Not another Ryoga...I'm P, don't you remember me, Toots?"

"Oh yeah," the other Rei replied, "Sorry...it's been a few years, hasn't it?"

"Yeah," he replied gruffly, "Time flies and all that. So...whats this about you trying to find another way of making the big break between my cousin and your husband?"

"That's right," both Reis said together, exchanging a look before the one holding the other pig said, "And this time there won't be any mistakes...we're really going to split them apart into two distinct halves. I've been studying up for this for months and I'm sure this time it's gonna work, which means you can have your cousin back while I at long last cure my husband!"

"Lotta luck on that," P said, not bothering to add that he had doubts about the effectiveness of any treatment in finding a permanent "cure" for the P-chan problem. It was Rei's endless quest to find such a cure that had resulted in numerous failed attempts in the past, some ending disastrously (such as the time she and her friends had journeyed to Jusenkyo, which had resulted in her present Twins curse). That Ryoga stoically endured it all was a testament to the man's marital commitment...and yet it was not at all surprising that he occasionally lost his nerve and tried to make a break for it, an effort that often proved both symbolic and ultimately futile.

"Thanks," said the Rei who had almost strangled him, "We know how much you'd like to have your kinsman back, just like we'd like to be rid of this annoying curse altogether."

"Bad enough our husband gets lost in a closet," replied the other version of Rei, "But it's getting harder to track him down, and with our daughter's seventeenth birthday coming up in a few months..."

"Oh really?" P brightened up, "Which one?"

"Yui-chan," said the first Rei proudly, "She'll be seventeen in April."

"Jun's birthday is just a little beyond that, and she'll be fourteen," the other Rei said just as proudly, "Assuming she doesn't wind up in a zoo or some place like that. It just figures that Yui would be the one to inherit the Twins curse..."

"...While Jun gets stuck as a pig half the time..." the first Rei paused before adding, "Not that there's anything wrong with Pigs, of course..."

"But would you want your daughter to marry one, huh?" P asked with some irony, turning back to Ryoga, "What about you, Sport? How's the proud poppa making out with these gorgeous wives of yours and two little sows who are turning into real heartbreakers, I'll warrant?"

The pig in the other Rei's arms talked more slowly, "I...think...I've learned...how to...manage. It is odd...every time I...think about it...being a father..."

P just smiled at the hesitant way the Lost Man tried to express himself in his porcine body. Even after all these years, Ryoga still had not yet mastered the ability to speak normally using a pig's vocal apparatus. P knew it wasn't easy for someone who had not been born a pig, and it had taken him many years to fully master the art of speaking Juraian with his own modified voice box.

"Listen, Toots," P addressed himself to the twin versions of Rei, "I wanted to have a few words with my Cousin, so...is it all right with you if I have a word with him while you get set up for the ceremony? I promise he won't run away, scouts honor."

"Well..." one Rei said dubiously.

"...If you need to talk privately with your family..." the other conceded, then gave the pig in her arms a stern warning, "You promise me you won't try to sneak out of here when my back is turned? I warn you, I'll have my ravens keeping an eye on you, Mister!"

The other black pig hesitated for only a moment before saying, "I...promise...Rei-chan..."

"Good," she set him down then said, "Now, I'll go back to the Shrine and get everything ready, then you'll cooperate when I light up the magic incense lantern and we'll see about getting you two permanently separated."

"Don't make me have to come looking for you, Mister," the other Rei warned fiercely, and nodded when she saw that her husband was sufficiently chagrined before saying, "Good...now, let's see if that old pervert, Happosai, is really to be trusted..."

P waited until the twin versions of Rei stalked off together towards the Shrine, then he turned to the other black pig and pointed one of his hooves, and a moment later the black pig was surrounded in the beam of a low-intensity filter, and after shivering for a few seconds, his cousin straightened up and looked at P with more intelligence in his expression.

"Thanks," his cousin said, "Glad you showed up right now, that was turning into one very intense scene..."

"No problem, Cuz," P replied, "I know that carbon-copying wife of yours must be quite a handful..."

"Like you wouldn't believe," the other pig rolled his eyes, but then sighed, "Too bad I'm not really her husband. You'd be amazed what it feels like to be snuggled in her arms, especially when there's two of her flanking me on either side..."

"Spare me the details," P sniffed, "I can just imagine. Must be tough being buried underneath the mind and personality of her real husband."

His cousin snorted, "I'm not complaining so much any more, but there are times I wish I'd never followed Prince Yosho to this cockamamie planet! Getting stuck in those cursed springs for seven hundred years waiting for some idiot to fall in and get cursed with my imprint..."

"Yeah," P said gruffly, "So...what do you think about your chances of this cure working out right for a change? Still eager to ditch the human?"

"Not as much any more," his cousin replied, "I've...adjusted, Cousin P, and he's really not all that bad for a human...Oni blood notwithstanding."

"And what about the other part of your act?" P asked, "You adjusted yet to being the father of three humans?"

"Two humans, one a hybrid," his Cousin insisted, "Jun's...like a regular chip off the old block, while Dan doesn't seem to have picked up any curse after all. Might as well ask me how it feels having a daughter who turns into a human...weird doesn't cover it, but I guess I'm mostly adjusted to that"

"Glad to hear it," P replied, "Hope this time Rei's cure really works. It'd be nice to take you back home for a little family reunion. By the way...where are the little Swine off to right now?"

"In school, mostly," his Cousin replied, "At least I'm sure Jun and Dan are...Yui...that's another story. The kid's going through some tough emotional times...you know how humans get when they're just a few years shy of full adulthood."

"Oh yeah," P said drolly, "I copy that. So, is she still hanging out with that girl-gang of junior Senshi?"

"Out saving the world for humanity and pig-kind like always," his Cousin related, "Truth is I'm getting a bit worried about her lately...she's gotten more cranky and moody than her mother on the rag..."

"That bad?" P lifted his non-existent eyebrows.

"Worse," his Cousin nodded, "I think she's come down with a crush on a fellow classmate...she won't tell me which one, but it looks pretty serious, and human mating customs being what they are..."

"I gotcha," P replied sagely, "If it were me, I'd lock her in the temple and stand outside with a loaded shotgun. Just let some pervert try and take advantage of Yui-chan's sweet nature and I'll reduce them to free-flowing particles in a heartbeat..."

"I feel the same way," his Cousin noted, "And I'm closer to being her father. Well...maybe I'm more like Jun's dad, but the principle works the same either way..."

"So Yui's got heart troubles," P mused with a grim expression, "That's too bad, she's a sweet kid, reminded me a bit of Sasami...well...maybe more like her big sister, Ayeka..."

"So, Cousin...what brings you back into this neck of the cosmos?" his Cousin asked more shrewdly.

"Oh, this and that," P replied, "Actually, we've got something of a local crisis brewing here and I wanted to put you on alert to it since rumors have it that your kid's been involved in a few para-dimensional incidents taking place around this precinct..."

"You mean we got local troubles?" his Cousin said more alertly, "How involved is Yui?"

"That's just it," P replied, "We don't know as yet...we just know that she and her Senshi pals have been to Gamora and back again, and they've made contact with the C'thuwulf, which means you ought to expect more weird stuff to happen in the very near future."

His cousin made a peculiar noise, a virtual "pig-whistle," "No wonder you felt like paying me a personal visit. Just how big of a crisis are we talking about here?"

"Oh, killer Androids, Demonic Possession, Giant Robots, a plot to conquer the world and either subjugate or destroy all of humanity, you know how it is," P shrugged his porcine shoulders.

"That bad, huh?" his Cousin blinked, then-after a moment of thought-  
suggested, "Maybe we should contact our cousin Walter? Think he might be able to help out?"

"Who, Pig Iron?" P blinked in surprise, "You've gotta be kidding! I'd sooner call on Cousin Suey! The idea is to protect the Japanese Islands, not level half their buildings! Why not call on Destroyer Duck while we're at it?"

"Okay, okay," his Cousin demurred, "It was just a suggestion, no need to bite my snout off!"

"Sorry...I'm just kinda jumpy right now," P replied in a more mollified voice, "With all the excitement we've had the past week, it's amazing I don't have frayed nerves, though right about now I'd kill for a decent cup of coffee."

"How about some tea?" his Cousin replied, "It's the best I can offer you in this place..."

"Japanese tea just gives me the runs, but thanks anyway," P replied, "So...gonna go through with this latest attempt to get you and the Boy separated?"

"Like I have a choice?" his Cousin shrugged, "Rei-chan's pretty insistent this time, and after having two of her kids wind up with Jusenkyo curses..."

"Yeah, I can see how that might make her a bit antsy," P conceded, "Sure it's not you who's got a case of the nerves here? Maybe you'd miss turning into a human whenever you get wet?"

"In a Pig's eye!" his Cousin sniffed with amusement, "I'll be personally glad when I can put an end to this assignment...even if I would miss snuggling up to Rei in a sandwich...and yeah, I'd miss the little sows at that, but Yui's getting close to maturity in human years, and I think I smelled a recent change in hormones the last time I sniffed her. I know Ryoga'd freak if he thought somebody had had sex with his little girl, but..."

"But humans tend to mate like their Ape ancestors whenever the mood hits them, right?" P nodded in understanding, "Well...here's hoping that Yui-chan's all right, but she always struck me as having a pretty level head on her shoulders, and whatever she's going through now, she's definitely a proven survivor."

"I hope you're right about that," his Cousin nodded sadly, "What I wouldn't give to know where she is right now...with this stupid curse of the Hibikis, she could be anywhere on the planet, and even with her Global Tracking System watch, I doubt she has any idea of her surroundings, though I hope she does manage to cope like a real trooper..."

For once in her life Yui knew where she was as she stood inside the girl's bathroom splashing her face with water and wondering what perverse fate had brought her back there. She knew the girl's bathroom of Jubaan quite well, knew how it different from Furinkan's bathrooms, and could identify the various markings in the tiles and floor plans (memorized from the number of times that she had wandered loose in there looking for the exit). Finding herself there at this time and place left her wondering if the Kami were having another jest at her expense, as was all too common a feeling in her experience of a lifetime.

She stared at her reflection, marveling at how much it felt like staring back at her other half, that aspect of herself that manifested whenever her "Twins Curse" was in full operation. It was an odd thing growing up with the ability to divide yourself into pairs whenever you needed a friend to talk to, but somehow talking to herself right now did not seem like much of a resolution. She wanted to talk to someone older and with more experience, who might understand the things that she was going through and have some ready good advice that might actually be practical to follow.

"What am I doing with myself?" she asked aloud, wondering why she was having such mixed feelings about losing her virginity to another girl the other day...not that she had any complaints at all about the way it had happened!

Trout had been a fun companion, and Yui was even starting to miss her...a little...but going back to the C'thuwulf underground city in search of the girl who had played masseuse with her body did not seem like a realistic solution to her romantic problems...in fact, it only highlighted how much Yui wished that she could share such closeness with her Muku. Then again the thought that she might be a closet Lesbian faintly horrified her priestly senses since she had always considered herself as being "normal" in that way, not that anybody (to date) had managed to hold her interest for longer than ten seconds...not even Ken, a boy she liked and genuinely respected (when she wasn't out to break that camera of his over his fool head!). In truth she did not find herself as attracted to other boys as most of her friends tended to be, and she had never been one to engage in the sort of gossip that seemed to prevail among her age group, especially when they started talking about prospective boyfriends.

Yui wanted to explore her options before making a commitment...to find some boy to whom she felt a genuine attraction and to "test the waters" to see if she could enjoy the companionship of men. Her mother had lectured her on the "evils" of boy-chasing, warning that lecherous young hormonally crazed men might find a "tasty morsel" like her far too appealing to resist...as if Yui had anything to fear from that angle, being stronger than nearly every boy in her class put together! In fact, Yui doubted if any of the weaklings in their school would have the nerve to even ask her out, knowing full well about her status as the Second Best Martial Artist in Furinkan High School (closely tied with Muku Dori, and the both of them just shy of Sakura).

The truth was that boys just seemed too...hairy...and stupid...not that these were bad qualities in themselves as Yui considered her father to be a man without peer, rugged, honest and honorable to such a degree that no other boy could hope to match him as either a warrior or a husband. Her mother never stopped singing his praises (though not to his face, as she was often cross and angry about something) whenever asked about what it was like to be married to a Hibiki. Oh sure, there was the Family curse with directions, and no one could accuse her father of being the brightest egg in the crate, but you could always count on him to stand with you when you needed a shoulder to lean on. Her father was the kind of man any girl would be proud of having, even if he wasn't filthy rich and successful, at least he was home much of the time and would spend hours on end playing with his children.

The fact that her father had made some money in his time writing Poetry and having it published as a best seller was reason enough to be proud...that and the fact that he was a co-song writer for many of her mother's best hits. Though her mother had retired from her too-brief stint as a Pop Idol and Actress to assume her duties in running her family's shrine, the both of them had gained enough notoriety in their time that Yui felt like a minor celebrity among her peers. In truth her family was a source of great pride for her, and the last thing which she wanted to do was to bring shame and dishonor on them in any way.

How then was she going to explain to her mother and father her sudden interest and strong attraction to other women? How could she explain it to herself that she felt drawn to Muku, which actually wasn't that rare a thing in Furinkan these days, but still...to want to screw your best friend sexually...what was the matter with her? Was she turning into some kind of Hentai?"

Just then she heard three voices chattering together and looked up in time to see a group of girls entering the restroom, pleasantly gossiping on the subject of their boyfriends...

"Hey, I hear you dated Kasugi the other day," one of them asked of another, "What's he like?"

That girl so addressed rolled her eyes and said, "He is SOOO immature! All through our date he kept looking at my breasts, and when the time came to make out he was like an octopus with hands all over my body!"

"I like his friend Natsuke better," another of the girls remarked, "He's got a mind like a steel trap and he's very good with numbers...could make one heck of an accountant."

"What about that new boy...the one from America?" the first speaker asked with a leer, "Isn't he dreamy?"

"Anri?" the third girl replied, "He's cute, and he's got a nice butt, but I like his brother, Lorien, even better..."

"Oh yeah, he's definitely a hunk, but much too old for us school girls," the second girl nodded, then added in an odd voice, "Is it just me or are these American sounding names getting harder to pronounce...?"

Yui blinked again as she overheard their giggling over that jest, struck by how much this conversation seemed to resemble another such matter that she had overheard the other day. In fact, the more she thought on it, the only difference that she could determine was the gender of the date-mates being discussed in such a lewdly suggestive manner.

Did that mean that there really was no basic difference between dating boys or dating other girls? She had to think a lot harder on that subject before she could frame a conclusion that was to her satisfaction. In the meantime the three girls continued to chatter away after entering separate stalls and squatting down to do their business...and for an instant Yui was struck by the comparison between this conventional form of bodily waste disposal and the more efficient methods employed by the C'thuwulf, and whether one might actually be able to adapt to the way things were done in Gamora city.

She dismissed the thought as having no immediate relevance and started to reach for some hand towels in order to dry off her fingers. In doing so, however, she caught a glimpse of another face looking back at her from the bathroom mirror...a face positioned directly behind her...angular and Elf-like, with pointy ears and cherry pink hair hanging wildly about her shoulders.

Yui sensed her immediate peril and started to move when the other girl wrapped her arms around her body and pinned her in a full Nelson, exerting incredible strength to bend Yui at the knee despite the full exertions of the surprised Hibiki. Her assailant grinned as she held Yui immobile then murmured into her ear, "Uh-uh-uh, Cute stuff...you're coming with me! Momma Gold wants to meet you!"

And with that they teleported out of there with no one to witness what had happened, though on another part of the Furinkan campus a young girl named Rini gasped in alarm, feeling an icy stab of danger, and immediately knew that something VERY BAD was in the winds for Jubaan...and Furinkan High School...!

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Kidnapped Hibikis: shadowmane

Nova has made her move, but does Big Gold intend to harm our benighted Ms. Hibiki, or is there a more sinister purpose to Yui's abduction that spells trouble for Rhea and Muku? Stay tuned for the next thrilling chapter in, "Lost in Place," or "Have Umbrella will Travel!" Be there!

X -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	25. Chapter 25

Earthchild25

The Earthchild

(An Iczer/Ranma/Sailor Moon/Tenchi Crossover)

by Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi,  
Toshihiro Hirano, Naoko Takeuchi, Hitoshi Okuda,  
TH Tiger and Johannes Huber, along with many Others)

Chapter Twenty-Five.

(HENTAI ALERT...there is a Lemony section included near the end of this chapter...so remember...YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!)

(HEH!)

Fiber had made yet another astonishing revelation when she decided to test her young ward's burgeoning skills with a little "practice match" between them...the revelation being that-when it came to fighting against children-she was not only out of her league but badly overmatched! Bad enough years ago to lose out to a six-year-old Iczer Three, but now the boy she had helped train was giving her a run for her money, and quite effectively using her own techniques against her!

"Hah, you call that an attack?" Tenma asked, grinning from ear-to-ear, "Try this on for size!"

At once several figures appeared in the space surrounding Fiber, wooden and puppet-like but with clearly lifelike detail, given that their forms were those of full-sized action figures from the various television programs which Tenma enjoyed watching in his home dimension. Some were big, powerful and brutish in plastic armor that had the hardness of steel, while others wore even more outlandish costumes and tended to behave in a totally over-the-top manner.

"Nice work," Fiber said, "Fine detail...but still fragile as porcelain," and to emphasize her point she sent a shockwave spreading out from her position, which disrupted the colorful figures into the nothingness from which they had been shaped. Fiber nodded and said, "You must learn to ground them more solidly in your beliefs if you want to use them as weapons..."

"Oh, I knew that already," Tenma smiled in a manner that suggested he had been ready for her counter-maneuver, which in turn made Fiber worry.

"Eh, what?" Fiber asked as she sensed an attack only instants before it happened.

A net fell over her as one figure proved resistant to her shockwave, catching Fiber totally by surprise as the net proved resistant even to her own powers.

"Well now," cooed a feminine voice that came from the figure of Netra, one of the seemingly endless cadre of oddly-named villains that the boy could draw from his boundless imagination, "What a fine kettle of fish this is, Matie!"

Fiber refrained from voicing her complaint about the boy's imagination being just borderline adolescent, though obviously he was still at the stage when he did not really understand what a woman was, or what made them so distinctly different from the male sex. How else to explain the rather slender female figure in revealing pirate gear that was presently assaulting her in such a humiliating manner. It could almost make one wish to have a few words with the producers of such a melodrama.

"Better," Fiber reluctantly approved as she struggled to free herself from the net, "But your puppets are only as strong as you make them..." and with that her claws slashed through her netting, even as her Threads wound their way around her ridiculously attired assailant, wrapping her up and all but dislocating the puppet's joints, or would have if her opponent had been really alive and a human.

"Ah, that's not nice," Tenma complained.

"Nice doesn't win points in a battle," Fiber retorted, "Find a way of making your puppets much stronger if you want them to give me a good battle."

"All right," Tenma replied, getting into the spirit of the thing with such enthusiasm that Fiber had to smile, even though she knew the boy had not yet begun to tap into the true depths of his resources, "How's this?"

All at once a male form took shape before Fiber's astonished eyes, tall and powerfully built with a handsome face that had an almost cartoonish exaggeration to his features. Fiber found herself looking up and up at the fellow in question, to which she quipped the logical query, "Who are you?"

"Me?" the handsome guy said in a surprisingly light tone of voice, hooking a thumb at himself, "My name is Goku and I'm a Saiyajin from Earth."

"A...Saiyajin?" Fiber said nervously, "You mean...you're one of that incredibly violent race of super-strong genetically engineered warriors who hire themselves out as mercenaries for robbing and pillaging inhabited worlds before selling them to the highest bidder?"

"Oh no," the handsome man replied, "I'm not with those guys...my father was a Saiyajin warrior, but I was raised on Earth and I just like to train and practice..."

"Train and practice?" Fiber replied.

"Yeah," he assured her, "I like a good fight against strong opponents, but I don't want to hurt anyone, and I always fight to protect the Earth..."

"A Saiyajin warrior...who doesn't want to maim, destroy and kill people?" Fiber turned and looked quizzically at Tenma, "Where did you ever find this guy?"

"On a TV show I liked to watch a couple of years back," Tenma replied, "I saw a live action version of it in a movie, which is how I knew how to make him look real, not like the Anime version, which is kinda exaggerated..."

"A TV show about a peace loving Saiyajin?" Fiber shuddered slightly, "Where do you humans get these strange notions? Tenma-chan...Saiyajin are an incredibly violent race of mercenary warriors who have plundered scores of worlds on the periphery of civilized space. The idea that one of them might spend his life in peaceful training, like your father..."

"Not too believable, huh?" Tenma frowned, then concentrated a moment and said, "Will he do better?"

Fiber sensed another puppet was taking form, but when she turned around she saw a much shorter man with a more compact body, his hair almost standing vertical upward, his angry scowl informing her at once that THIS was a more conventional Saiyajin, the kind who would just as soon blast an enemy to atoms as look at them funny.

"What are you looking at, Woman?" this short, wired fellow snarled.

"Ah...nothing," Fiber hastily replied, knowing full well that she could defeat a real Saiyajin in battle, but that it would be no simple or easy matter.

"Are you calling me nothing?" he snarled, "I'll have you know that I'm the Prince of all Saiyajins..."

"Aw, lay off her, Vegita," the other male puppet said affably, "She doesn't mean you any harm."

"Oh yeah?" the shorter man declared, "Well, why don't I take it up with you then? You want to fight?"

"Sure, why not?" the taller man agreed, "I could use the exercise."

All at once the two puppets starting going at it together, trading blows that were both powerful and well coordinated while Tenma concentrated on giving them the semblance of genuine combatants.

"Not bad," Fiber arched an eyebrow as she watched the fight move off and go into higher levels of combat, trading blows that she could actually feel vibrate the very air around them, "You're making them seem more realistic with increasing practice."

"That's the idea," Tenma replied, "Did you know that Pop thinks the fighting on their show is mostly fake? He says it's little better than fancy wrestler moves with a lot of special effects to make up for the bad acting."

"And of course your father knows better," Fiber mused.

"He's the best there is," Tenma replied, "Which is why I'm using moves more like what he uses whenever Uncle Ryoga comes to pay us a visit."

"I see," Fiber smiled, then brought her hand up beside Tenma's face and snapped her fingers.

"Huh?" the boy was startled, and all at once his puppets ceased to move, freezing in place as though someone had pressed the "stop" button.

"Learn to concentrate better," Fiber remarked, "Ideal conditions are rarely found on the field of battle, so you can't let yourself be distracted...it will cause your puppets to cease operation."

"Oh," Tenma replied, "How do you make them work even when you get distracted?"

"Learn to invest in them a portion of self-awareness in your puppets so that they can function independently for a few moments, at least," Fiber replied, "But instill safeguards to keep then from running amok...I will show you how, but we will do it in stages."

"All right," Tenma smiled, "Y'know...when you talk like that, you sound a lot like Pop...I mean...when he's in his girl half that is..."

"It must be very confusing for you," Fiber mused, "Having a father who is also part mother."

"Well, it never seemed confusing to me when I was little," Tenma rubbed behind the back of his head, "But when I was old enough to know how it was for other kids my age...having parents who don't switch bodies all the time...I guess I had to think a lot about that..."

"I really must meet this father of yours sometime," Fiber mused, "After you finish training to the point where I am satisfied that you can defend yourself against Big Gold and her minions."

"You keep saying that," Tenma frowned, "But is she really like, this bad lady who's behind all of the problems we've been having lately?"

"Big Gold...is an Avatar," Fiber replied with a sigh, "The living storehouse of a computer intelligence that once ran the homeworld of the C'thuwulf people, but who was taken over by a malevolent force and turned into an Incarnation of ultimate evil. She is served by the Venomoids, a race of parasites who infect innocent people and turn them into hideous creatures. She may even have been created by those very parasites...I am really not too certain about the details, save that they are hostile to all life and seek universal domination, and if they infect you with one of their seeds, you had better hope for death or find a way to purge them from your bodies, because if they take you over, the person whom you are will be gone forever."

"That gross!" Tenma made a face, "Who wants to become some yucko monster?"

"Who indeed," Fiber patted the boy on the head, feeling oddly tender as she considered how protective she now was towards this half-developed human, "And that is why I will show you how to avoid getting infected by their evil...and I will show you the face of our enemies...especially Neos," she growled out the word as though it left a very bad taste in her mouth, "She's one whom I especially would like to see served up by one of your surprises."

"I'll train harder, Sensei," Tenma replied, "I'll make you proud of me, you'll see!"

Fiber's smile became especially tender, "I already am, Ten-chan, but pride alone won't win you any battles. You must be strong, and your puppets even stronger, and when we are ready...let Gold beware of you, my pupil!" She grinned in satisfaction, reckoning that she was not the only one who would do well never to underestimate the resourcefulness of children...

Muku stared at the proffered okonomiyaki with a very dubious expression, able to tell at a glance that it was not only good tasting but absolutely mouth-watering scrumptious. She turned a puzzled look up to Sakura and said, "Um...thanks...but...what's the occasion?"

"No reason," Sakura smiled, "Can't a friend offer you a meal just for the sake of our friendship?"

"Well...yes...but still..." Muku paused, wondering why Sakura was smiling at her in such a shy and hesitant manner.

"Consider it an apology of sorts, then," Sakura amended, "I haven't been entirely fair with you lately...I guess we've all been under a lot of stress with all that craziness of the last week...and I wasn't very understanding of what you were going through, Muku-chan."

"Oh, that's okay," Muku replied with a demurring gesture, "I can hardly expect you to understand what it feels like to get grabbed up into the belly of a giant robot and made to fight against all kinds of alien craziness. I mean, that's not the sort of thing that happens every day to normal people, right?'

"Ah...I suppose," Sakura replied with a slightly strained expression.

"Anyway," Muku glanced down at her okonomiyaki, which was still very warm to the touch but smelled delicious, "I'm really glad to have the chance to talk with you like this. I've been feeling very bad about how you and the others got involved in that mess around the dojo, and later on when we were attacked at the mall and wound up in New Gamora, I'd heard you'd been involved in some kind of mess yourself...um...y'know, I never did get the details on how you wound up at that Onsen with me, Yumi and Rini..."

"Well...that's really not too important right now, is it?" Sakura asked in a manner that was a little too hopeful.

"I guess not," Muku replied, "I'm just sorry you got involved. I mean...you're my best friend, and with these bad guys willing to destroy just about anyone who gets too close to me and Rhea...I was afraid you'd resent me for that. It's not like I asked to get you involved...but I do feel kind of responsible about it..."

"Actually...I'm kind of responsible for my own involvement," Sakura admitted, "And I don't resent you, Muku-chan. You are my friend and I...know that you would never deliberately try to hurt me."

"Thanks for saying that," Muku smiled, "You really are the best, Sakura-chan, in everything I mean. I've always appreciated the way you train with me and help me with my schoolwork, and I know we haven't had much time for socializing while we've been under attack, but I've missed being with you. I mean, I've always known you would stand by me and support me in a crisis, and frankly, I could use a sympathetic ear right now. I mean...Yumi tries, but, well...you know how irritating she can be when she wants to be helpful..."

"Tell me about it," Sakura sniffed, "Ah...well...I suppose I could lend an ear or two...if it's really been that bad for you, what with being grabbed up and all..."

"Yeah, but you know something," Muku replied, "In a way it's been really very...interesting, know what I mean? Like finding out that there's a place like New Gamora that's almost under our feet with all that technology and some very interesting people. Rhea-chan showed me a world I never even knew existed before...and I...I guess there's been a lot of good stuff to go with the bad. Those C'thuwulf seem very nice...for aliens, that is..."

"You think so?" Sakura sniffed, "Doesn't it bother you that they're all kind of...you know?"

"Ah...well...I'd be lying if I didn't admit that part makes me a little nervous," Muku sheepishly admitted, "But I'm starting to think...it really isn't so weird when you think about it. I mean...there are no men in their culture, right? So naturally they only date other women, and with their ability to reproduce themselves artificially, they don't have any reasons not to, right?"

"Ah...I guess that makes a kind of sense," Sakura said with a dubious expression.

"I guess...what really matters is what's in a person's heart, not just the condition of their bodies, right?" Muku glanced down again and felt herself begin to blush, "That's why I'm not as shocked anymore when I think about how Rhea acts when she's around me...you know...with those big eyes of hers, and that lost puppy expression..."

"Her again," Sakura frowned a bit more harshly than she'd intended.

Muku picked up on some of that irritation and hastily pleaded, "Please don't be cross with her...it's really not her fault either. I know she's at the center of everything that's happened lately, but she really means well, and I know she doesn't intend to hurt anyone. Well...anyone who isn't a bad guy..."

It was Sakura's turn to look down as she unselfconsciously wrung her hands together, "She's also trying to make you into something that I...don't think you fully understand yet, Muku-chan. She wants you to be her...partner..."

"She is my partner," Muku replied, surprising Sakura enough that the other girl looked up at her with a surprised expression, "I want to be with her...or at least, I wouldn't mind continuing to fight alongside her...but I don't want to give up on my other friends, like you, Yumi, Yui and Rini..."

Sakura frowned again, then grumbled as she stared off to the side, "Oh yes...that's us all right, the frigging Three Musketeers, plus one or two on the sideline..."

"More like six of us if you count Perm," Muku pointed out with a lopsided smile, "But you're special, Sakura-chan...you've been my friend for as long as I can remember. I really wouldn't enjoy life very much if you weren't around to share that part of my life, and not just as a sparring partner."

Sakura turned a hesitant look back towards Muku, then swallowed as she tried to gather up her courage and began to say, "Muku-chan...I've...come to realize something myself over the last few days...you see...for a while now I've been...been..." she faltered, seeing Muku's wide-eyed, inquisitive stare.

"Yes?" Muku asked.

"I..." Sakura froze on the next word, realizing what a huge step it would be to openly state her commitment.

"Sakura-chan?" Muku asked, "Are you all right?"

"I..." Sakura tried again, finding it hard to even visualize the word, let alone to say it.

The very next moment a beeping noise interrupted their conversation, starting both Muku and Sakura as they turned to look at the tree under which they had been sharing lunch together. A moment later they heard Yumi's voice cursing softly before she touched her wrist communicator and said, Yeah?"

Instantly they heard Rini's frantic voice call out, "Yumi-chan-we've got big trouble! Yui's been kidnapped, and I think it's by those monsters from the other dimension!"

"What?" Yumi exclaimed, "How do you know that?"

"I had this really weird feeling a short time ago, so I did a quick head count and determined that Yui was the only one of us not accounted for, except you, and I knew you weren't in any danger."

"Gee thanks," Yumi replied, "Why would anybody want to kidnap Yui? Are they crazy or suicidal?"

"I don't know," Rini replied, "It only just happened a short..."

"AHA!" cried Sakura as she sprang to her feet and rounded the tree to find Yumi hiding behind it on the opposite side, "Caught you!"

"Uh-oh," Yui winced, "Ah...Rini? Mind if I call you back? I've got a thing going on here..."

"Never mind," Rini said, "I'm Senshi Teleporting to your location, just as soon as Karma and the twins get out from their classes. We've gotta combine our strengths right now, and if you know where Sakura and Muku-chan are, you'd better go find them!"

"That...won't be a problem," Yumi noted dryly, seeing the deadly glare that Sakura was giving her, and the non-plussed expression on Muku's features, "Talk to you soon...I hope."

"You were spying on us?" Muku asked just as soon as Yumi broke off her connection.

"Ah...yeah...well," Yumi winced, "When I saw you and Sakura-chan were headed off for a private Powwow, I naturally thought I'd tag along and see what was up with you two..."

Sakura looked like she was one step away from going for her spatulas as she grit her teeth and said, "It wasn't any of your business.."

"Oh yeah...Best Friends?" Yumi pouted, "What did you expect me to do, wait to hear the aftermath and come pick up the pieces? As if you two wouldn't botch it without someone like me around to play chaperone..."

"Chaperone?" Muku blinked, "What are you talking about...?"

"Nothing would have happened," Sakura assured her, "I just wanted to...talk with Muku...IN PRIVATE for a bit, when you and that pager of yours had to go and interrupt us!"

"Oh yeah, I could see you were making great progress," Yumi snorted, then made a placating gesture, "Never mind that now...the point is that Yui's gone missing...and while I don't pretend that sort of thing doesn't happen with her every day, in light of all the troubles we've been having, not to mention what's been happening with the Kunos..."

"Yes, exactly," said another voice as Perm dropped lightly out of the branches of the tree, "With my sister and Oneesan both victims of the monsters, it is understandable that any one of us might also wind up becoming a victim of their foul machinations."

"You were listening in too?" Muku asked with a blandly astonished expression.

"Not just her," said Rhea, who popped in to the effect of a pixilated outline, becoming manifest at the side of Muku, much to Sakura's intense frustration, "I heard the word as well...a brief signature manifesting in the Jubaan district...I fear there has been another abduction, but I cannot say in what condition Yui-san is at the moment."

"Hey, she's a Senshi, like me," Yumi replied, "We're a lot harder to get rid of than your average person..."

"I know," Sakura replied with a very sour expression.

"Do you think it is another of those monsters that did it?" Muku asked, then amended, "Or...another enemy Iczer?"

"I cannot say at the moment," Rhea replied, "But the possibility is frightening. I'm sorry...we've had people watching over you and your friend...Iczelions and...other allies...but somehow the enemy was able to slip past our defenses."

"I'd say you're doing a bang-up job of helping out," Sakura growled sourly.

"Hey, that's not exactly a fair thing to say," Yumi chided before turning back to Rhea, "I'm sure your people did everything they could, but these guys are just like Youma, and they've got no sense of time, place or propriety, or else they'd never try to lay a finger on a handful like Yui. They could have gone for a soft and cushy target, but NOOOO...they had to go for the hard-ass in our little group..."

"Unlike you, eh?" Sakura said in slightly less ruffled tones, having finally managed to get a grip over her anger.

"Oh, I'm a softie all right," Yumi grinned, "You should try my ass out sometime if you'd like to see for yourself. Come on, Sakura, lighten up! You can do your sweet talking another time, but this is an emergency...we have to find and rescue Yui..."

"Don't you mean rescue her abductors from her wrath?" Perm asked rather blandly.

"Yeah, whatever," Yumi waved the point aside, then turned to Muku and said, "Are you gonna eat that or not? No sense facing a crisis on an empty stomach."

"Um...of course," Muku replied, and at once began biting down on her okonomiyaki, which had sufficiently cooled to be just right on her palate.

Sakura watched her friend eat with a somewhat forlorn expression, but then she heard a voice in her own mind say, "(Too bad, kid...I was rooting for you this time, and I mean it.)"

The young chef kept her face rigidly impassive, but mentally she thought, "(Don't tell me you were eavesdropping on us too?)"

"(Like I could keep you out if I wanted?)" Troi mentally replied, "(Uh-uh, Sugar...it doesn't work that way, and you know it.)"

"(What do you want with me?)" Sakura scowled, glancing at the branches of the tree as if expecting to see someone else lurking among the branches.

"(Like I told you before,)" Troi replied, "(I want to help you...honest! You think I like hearing angry or depressed thoughts in my head buzzing like static? I'd like it MUCH better if you were happy, Sakura-chan.)"

"Eh?" Sakura said aloud, feeling Yumi's hand insistently tug on the sleeve of her uniform.

"I wanted to know if you'll come with us to help in the search," Yumi replied, "I know you and Yui don't exactly get along, but even you can't wish something this bad on her and live with yourself in the morning, right?"

"Ah...right," Sakura replied, then hastily amended, "I mean...I think I'll stay here and explain things to the teachers...uh...where is Muku-chan?" she glanced around in surprise.

"Took off with Rhea-chan a second ago," Yumi blinked, "Weren't you watching?"

"Took off...with Rhea," Sakura repeated with a faintly disappointed expression."

"Whoah...guess you really are out of it," Yumi said with obvious sympathy, "Sorry if I spoiled your little confession speech, I know how much you wanted to tell Muku that you care about her...as more than just a friend. But you've gotta know by now that with Rhea in the picture..."

"Isn't there something else you can do to go bug somebody?" Sakura growled in warning.

"Uh...yeah," Yumi verbally back-pedaled, "I've gotta go meet Rini and the others when they arrive, so...will you be ready to help if we need you?"

"I'll be ready," Sakura nodded grimly.

"Uh...right," Yumi turned away and grumbled, "Try and help somebody out sometimes and they bite your head off over nothing..."

Perm lingered a moment as Yumi started to walk off in a chosen direction, looking Sakura frankly in the eyes and saying, "You know she means well...and it ill serves you to take your frustrations out on her for your inability to speak your mind openly, Saotome."

"Look who's talking," Sakura gave the purple haired girl a warning glare, which Perm ignored as she turned away with a somewhat thoughtful expression.

"Well," Troi said aloud after the others had gone a sufficient distance, manifesting in the air while levitating above ground level, "That could have gone more smoothly."

"Why don't you get lost?" Sakura retorted.

"Can't," Troi replied, "I'm not a Hibiki. Besides which, I have that Geopositioning thing down to an artform...helps a lot with not teleporting into a rock or a tree. By the way, feel free to snap at me all you want...I know I deserve it for eavesdropping."

"I thought you said you couldn't tune me out," Sakura replied, stoically ignoring the floating blonde haired woman hovering around beside her.

"Well, it's not exactly like I'm even making an effort," Troi rolled over onto her back and leaned her head against both hands while she hovered around eye-  
level, "The truth is...I can't stop thinking about you, wondering where you are, what you're doing...and then I open myself to the question and...I know exactly where you are and what you're doing. I can't keep you out of my thoughts, and I wouldn't want to if I could..."

"Well, try harder!" Sakura flared in anger.

"I know you're mad at me, and you have every right to be," Troi replied, circling around the younger girl, "I brought you into this because I found you attractive, only now we're kind-of stuck on each other, and it really is all my fault, though...I did try to warn you."

"You call that a warning?" Sakura asked with a stony expression.

"Funny thing is," Troi replied in a lilt to her expression, "I've often wondered what it would be like to have a full-fledged partner...not a hand-me-down from my Big Sis...and I've often wondered what kind of girl I'd be partnered with...and now that I've finally met you, I think I couldn't have picked better if I scanned the whole planet. Well...actually, I have scanned the whole planet, but the thing is...I wouldn't change a thing about you if I could...you're perfect for me in all the ways that matter..."

"Perfect?" Sakura bristled, "You used me like a battery in that first battle...and when I helped you out with Atros..."

"I know," Troi replied, "And she's been doing fine ever since you helped me debug her. I've been trying to give you more time to get used to what happened when we matched resonances, but now things are starting to close in on us again and time's becoming a premium..."

"So you've come back to tell me that I'm still a part of the war-effort and should get used to the idea?" Sakura huffed.

"Hey, it's not all about you, Beautiful, even if you've just moved to the top of my priority list," Troi assured her, "Truth to tell, I'm just getting used to the idea of being connected with you...it's really strange being this aware of someone else, other than Nagisa. Even what I had with her doesn't compare to this feeling I'm getting with you since our Synchronization...it's like falling in love for the first time..."

"I don't want to hear about it," Sakura snorted, "And for the tenth time, WE ARE NOT MARRIED!"

"Hey, I know there's been no formal ceremony or anything like that," Troi replied, "But the truth is that what we have is very much close to being a marriage...a marriage of mind, spirit and body. I know you don't want to hear about this, and I can hardly blame you for being angry and resentful about getting roped into a thing like this, and I sure as hell didn't want to go dragging you into my sphere of influence..."

"A little late for that, don't you think?" Sakura replied, "And would you stop doing that already?"

"Doing what?" Troi rolled over on her side and rested her elbow on empty air, her face against her hand, just exactly as if she were laying on an invisible sofa, "Am I doing something to annoy you...other than butt in on your private misery-fest?"

"You know exactly what I mean!" Sakura flared, pointing an accusing finger at the Bioroid, "That!"

"Hmm?" Troi blinked, then belatedly got the point, "Oh...you mean the part about flying...got it..." and at once she touched her feet solidly down again on Terra Firma, "Sorry...old habit. When you can levitate and resist the pull of gravity like I can, it just feels more liberating then standing around feeling like a cradle robber."

Sakura folded her arms and just fumed, "You could have warned me that this would happen before you abducted me into that robot..."

"How could I warn you?" Troi asked, "I didn't know it could happen like it did...I've never even heard of somebody changing their Bio-signature to match frequencies like that. It caught me just as much by surprise as you when we Synchronized together, but now that it's happened and you really are my partner..."

"Don't you mean WIFE?" Sakura growled out the word with particular resentment.

"Okay, maybe that would be a poor choice of words right now," Troi sighed, "But that's what you feel like to me...my wife. I've never had one of those before...it's a whole new experience for me...of course, I suppose, given your family's history, you could more likely call me your fianc e..."

"I already have a fianc e...remember?" Sakura growled.

"How could I forget?" it was Troi's turn to sniff, "That guy, Penpen, who your parents agreed you should shack up with..."

"His name is Ken," Troi said pointedly.

"Whatever," Troi replied, "Honestly, the guy has a camera fetish, and I can tell he likes to take compromising pictures of you when you're not looking, and then he charges you rates for him NOT to distribute them around to your fellow class mates...what is that, the teenaged equivalent of dunking your pony tail in his inkwell, or something like that?"

"Something like that," Sakura said in slightly more mollified tones, "Actually...I think he just does that to get my attention..."

"Does it work?" Troi asked.

"Usually," Sakura growled, though her ire was no longer expressed in Troi's direction.

"I know he must get on your nerves a lot, making all those betting pools and getting students to bet their week's allowance on one thing or another," Troi continued, "But I can also tell you care a lot more about him than you normally let on, so...if that's the way you feel about him, then I won't even try to get between you and Lenny..."

"Ken," Sakura corrected again, but this time her mouth quirked slightly and she fought against the urge to smile at the word-play.

"Right," Troi continued, "So...how did that work again...you winding up engaged to a trouble maker like Benny?"

"Ken," Sakura found she could not help smiling this time, "It goes back to the time of our grandparents...my grandfather and his had this deal to unite the families through marrying my father to one of Uncle Soun's daughters, only it turns out that grandpa had another agreement to have my dad marry my mother. There was a lot of confusion about that in the old days, and nobody seems willing to give me a straight answer, but I think the agreement was to have dad marry Muku-chan's mother, if you can believe that. These days they can hardly look at each other without trading insults..."

"Yeah, that does sound kind of far-fetched," Troi agreed.

"Well, anyway...the way I hear it," Sakura resumed, "When mom met dad they kind-  
of started to see each other on the side...mainly because they were friends going back to when they were six years old, which is almost as long as I've known Muku. Her mom met her dad during a skating match, and they didn't exactly hit it off right away, but over time when he started chasing her, Muku's mom started to find herself being really attracted to him, which is why she agreed to call off the engagement with my father. It caused a real scandal at the time, I think, something about an agreement grandpa made with grandmother, but in the end my folks had to promise to consider honoring the agreement to marry a Tendo by having me get engaged to whatever member of the opposite gender was produced in the next generation. This was before I was even conceived, and it just so happened to turn out that I was a girl and Ken was the only male grandchild produced by three sisters. Since our folks tend to be pretty conventional minded about such things, they engaged me to Ken instead of Blaze or Muku..."

"Blaze," Troi replied, "That's Muku's cousin by her Aunt Kasumi, right?"

"That's her all right," Sakura nodded, "Haven't seen her around for a while though...her father tends to move around a lot when he's not home taking care of the family business. Sometimes he goes on training missions, just like me and Pop, and when Blaze comes back she sometimes looks me up to challenge me...and next to Muku herself, she's a pretty tough fighter. We sometimes like to joke that if she'd been a guy she'd have wound up my boyfriend..."

"Does she know about the way you feel about Muku?" Troi asked softly.

"I...don't think so," Sakura replied dubiously, "Of course we also liked to joke about what life would be like if I'd inherited my father's curse the way Yui inherited her curse from her mother. I've often wondered about that too...what it would be like if I turned into a guy, just like Dad turns into a girl with a dash of cold water. Of course I'm pretty obviously a girl, so maybe the curse thing only works if both parents have curses, or something like that..."

"Well, just for the record, I like you the way you are," Troi replied, "And I'd feel pretty weird if you did have your father's curse. Not that I've got anything against guys, I mean...well...I even once had a boyfriend of my own, did you know that?"

"No," Sakura said in surprise, "You...a boyfriend?"

"Sure thing," Troi nodded, "We met fifteen years ago when I was still just a kid, and he was a lot older...like about thirteen years older than I looked. He was nineteen, I was six, and he treated me like I was a kid, but later on, after I grew out a bit, we met again and he started to see me in a whole new light...about five years ago I approached him and we started seeing each other...kind of like an experiment we both decided to undertake together."

"An experiment?" Sakura arched an eyebrow.

"In cross-biological relations," Troi explained, "I wanted to see if it was even possible for me to like a guy that way...and I was pretty brazen when I seduced him. I mean...he was handsome, I was young and inexperienced and we had a lot of fun together, plus he sort-of had a crush on Nagisa, which you can pretty much guess left the guy feeling emotionally very fragile..."

"So what happened?" Sakura asked in genuine curiosity.

"It didn't quite work out," Troi shrugged, "But we both had a great time and agreed to remain friends and all that. In bed he was so very kind and attentive, and I had a lot of fun, but...well...something just didn't click right for me, and while I tried to make him know how much I was appreciating his efforts, he kind of sensed that it wasn't going where he wanted it to be. It was about that time that I decided that I really was gay, but I wasn't Anthropophobic like my sisters. I could enjoy being with a man, I just couldn't go the full distance. It takes a woman to make me experience the big O in Orgasm, but I've never stopped trying to find a guy who could prove the exception...at least until now when I've found you."

"But I'm not a guy," Sakura pointed out.

"I know," Troi smiled, "Which makes you perfect for me. I'm sorry if that's inconvenient..."

"You don't understand," Sakura glanced away, "My engagement to Ken is a matter of family honor...I can't let anything get in the way of it, no matter who else I...get involved with."

"But do you actually like the guy?" Troi asked, then smiled, "You don't have to answer...I can feel that you do, a lot more than you let on...a lot more than you even like to admit to yourself, though you can feel free to deny it."

Sakura made an exasperated noise and turned an angry glare back at the Bioroid, "Do you have any idea how annoying it is to have somebody reading my thoughts and telling me what I think without my permission?"

"So, are you saying that I'm right?" Troi folded her arms and just looked back at her human companion with a knowing expression, "Besides, it's not like I have any choice about it either...you're broadcasting your thoughts and feelings so loud that I couldn't shut you out if I had both hands over my ears...and you have to admit, my ears are pretty sharp, eh?"

"Pointed like an Elf, you mean," Sakura said in an attempt to be stern, but her mouth quirked slightly as she studied the disarming expression of the large-eyed Troi, who was being uber-charming.

"You got something against elves?" Troi smirked, "Frankly, there are C'thuwulf who think you humans are weird because you put up with guys and think it's natural to partner with them, but I guess it's all a matter of perspective. The point is...I don't have any choice right now about partnering with you...after that stunt you pulled with me in Neural Space, you're in a fine position to protest that you didn't know what you were getting involved in. Now you're a part of me, joined in mind and spirit almost at the hip, and like it or not, you'll have to put up with having me around in your life."

"For how long?" Sakura asked.

"I dunno," Troi replied, "The rest of our lives, or until I get a new partner. C'mon, synchronization doesn't happen every day...I was designed to genetically bond with a human who matched a certain mental, physical and spiritual profile, only you somehow adjusted yours to bond with me. Maybe there's somebody else out there who is a perfect match, somebody who was supposed to be my partner...but after fifteen years of waiting you come along and...well...I've got no complaints. The problem for you is that...we can't exactly get a divorce for this thing...we're linked together, and it wasn't like my designers thought about having me get out of this thing...it was meant to last forever."

"Forever?" Sakura asked with a faintly appalled expression.

"Or until one of us dies, I guess," Troi inclined her head, "What's the matter, are you tired of me already?"

Sakura sobered again and said, "Well...maybe so...maybe not...but you have to know something...if I break off my engagement to Ken it's going to produce an even worse scandal than the last time...Sugar."

"I know that," Troi replied, "Which is why I wanted to tell you that I'm willing to be flexible here. I won't impose myself on you, Sakura-chan, and I don't want to make a total mess of your life. I want you to be happy, and if that means letting you marry Denny and giving him little chefs to play with..."

"Ken," Sakura insisted, only this time her smile was back, "Do you mean that? Would you actually be willing to step aside and let me keep my original engagement?"

"Who says I have to step aside?" Troi smiled, "How does Kenny feel about Threesomes?"

Sakura blinked before gasping, "Are you serious?"

"Hey, you know any red-blooded human male who wouldn't want to be sandwiched between a pair of hot-looking Fems like us?" Troi said with a leering expression, "C'mon, the guy would have to be out of his freling mind not to take up such a two-for-one deal! Besides, I've been with enough guys to know just what it takes to make them happy...I could even give you a few pointers, especially when it comes to giving blow-jobs."

Sakura just looked at the silver-haired Bioroid and said simply, "You're not kidding."

"Would I lie to you?" Troi said with a patently innocent expression, lifting three fingers for emphasis, "Scouts honor...although I have to say that I'd look awfully funny wearing one of those fukus..."

Sakura found herself chuckling before she could even stifle the impulse, then she shook her head and said, "What am I going to do with you?"

"Would you like some suggestions?" Troi moved closer to the other girl and put her arms around Sakura's waist, "I could make you a list of things that you could do with me, and it's up to you how many of them you'd like me to try on you..."

"You actually make that sound tempting," Sakura admitted, allowing her own arms to slip around the "older" girl's waist, assured that most of her fellow students had already returned to the main school building.

Of course the sound of a snapping camera shutter caused them both to turn their heads in time to see Ken smiling back at them with his tell-tale incriminating vid-camera in hand, a knowing smirk in his expression.

"Frankly, ladies, I'm very flattered," he said, "I had no idea you went that way, Sakura-chan, but if you're actually considering including me in this little tete-a-tete of yours, perhaps we can negotiate...after I circulate this picture around at my Website. Bye now!"

With that the boy turned around and started to run flat-out for the school building. Sakura and Troi remained where they were, arms still wrapped around each other while their eyes tracked the fleeing boy's movements.

"My, that boy's got some good legs on him," Troi noted in passing, "Want me to break them?"

Sakura actually considered the point, then sighed, "Maybe not...he's still my iinazuke."

"Well, suppose he was to have an accident in-say-the next few minutes?" Troi asked, "It doesn't have to be fatal, just painful enough that he doesn't have the strength to use a camera."

"Now that I might go along with," Sakura said as she let go of the Bioroid and went reaching for her spatula, "Provided I'm the one who does the pounding, Sugar!"

"We could make it a race," Troi smiled, "I'll even teleport you to where he is so you can have first crack."

"Deal," Sakura grinned, and together the two of them vanished from the schoolyard, translocating ahead to a more advanced position inside the main building...

Yui blinked her eyes and wondered what that peculiar taste was in her mouth...like liquid, but almost broth-like, as though she were floating inside of a giant can of soup mix. It felt exactly like being in one of those C'thuwulf restorative chambers, and-just like before-she found that she could breathe naturally in the peculiar substance, even make sounds quite normally, though the first words she spoke had a curiously unreal quality to her own hearing.

"Where...am I?"

"Ah," a voice spoke into her ears, vibrating slightly as an effect of her aqueous environment, "Awake at last are we? Good! Grandmother says we need you for the little party we're about to throw for your friends."

"Who are you?" Yui glanced around and saw only the opaque interior surface of a rounded, egg-shaped chamber in which she was presently trapped...her arms and legs strapped in by some sort of plastic bracing with miniature tubes attached to the surface areas of her otherwise bare skin.

"I'm the pilot on this flight, Honeybunch," came the immediate reply, "You can call me Nova."

"Nova?" Yui bristled, "You're that pink-haired bitch who attacked us at the dojo!"

"Ah, you remember? Now nice!" Nova chuckled, "Since we're linked together now, it's good that we be on a first-named basis, don't you think?"

"Let me out of here!" Yui struggled vainly against the harness that trapped her arms and legs, "I'll show you what I think of as nice!"

"You mean like talking to your girlfriend, taking long walks on the beach, holding hands, that sort of thing?" Nova replied, "Let me see if this is what you're thinking..."

"Huh?" Yui gasped as images suddenly filled her mind, of Muku Dori talking to her and smiling at her in a friendly kind of way. Yui felt her heart skip a beat as she imagined seeing Muku's casual smile become more shy and suggestive...then she felt a hand grasping her hand, the sense of walking side-  
by-side along a sunset beach with the water lapping at their feet...and Yui somehow not splitting into a pair but remaining perfectly normal...and all too aware of the presence of Muku beside her..."

"Or maybe you'd like something a little more intimate than this, huh?" Nova asked again, and suddenly the mental imagery changed into something far more intensely erotic, of being massaged all over her body with hands that knew their business, finding intimate spaces on and in Yui's body that aroused a strong reaction, causing Yui to gasp as her real body writhed and responded to the touch of those hands...hands very much like Trout, only now belonging to a hungrily smiling Muku!"

"Oh yeah, I can tell that's definitely your bag!" Nova remarked, her voice oddly quavering as if she were also becoming aroused by the image, "So, let's ratchet it up a notch, shall we?"

Yui arched her back as she remembered the intense love-session that she had enjoyed with Trout, feeling her body respond as if hands and lips were playing over her skin, but now it was Muku's hands, Muku's face and Muku's soft lips which were driving her over the edge of distraction! Yui's arousal was complete as she imagined Muku's face buried in the space between Yui's thighs, and feeling of that tongue sliding into her moistened snatch and going berserk down there, which took Yui beyond conscious awareness to an intense explosion that caused her mind to momentarily go white.

"MMMMM...Oh yeah!" Nova cooed, "Shake it, girlfriend! I'll bet you've got a really tasty snatch down there...bet you can taste yourself now, eh?"

Yui realized that she could indeed taste a hint of her own juices in the fluids that she was breathing, half-realizing that she had just ejaculated her own cum into the life pod, which was not circulating it out quite as fast as it would ordinary waste matter. The flow of her own juices only furthered her arousal, and rather than expending her lust it expanded on her desire as she imagined herself kissing Muku Dori all over, her tongue sliding down to engorge each generous breast, then going further south to take care of the main business, lapping up Muku Dori's own juices.

Nova grew excited as she experienced these new emotions, sensations and feelings unlike anything that she had ever known before since the time of her creation. Yui was unaware of the resonating converter located inside her life pod, which was absorbing her bio-energies as fast as the girl could discharge her excess...energies that were then converted to match the Bio-resonance pattern of Nova's own rhythms, which gave her a charge as she linked in with this now-fully aroused and highly suggestible human.

It had indeed been a lightning stroke of genius for Big Gold to figure out that human emotions were the reason why the Iczers and their Partners kept winning all their battles. All that was needed was to find a human whose strong life force readings were matched by an equally strong emotional pattern, and when one of her target's companions proved to fit these requirements, it had been a simple enough matter for Nova to abduct her into the program.

And what a find she had made! This Yui Hibiki had an incredibly strong life-  
energy reading with vitality signs that vastly exceeded human normalcy, not to mention a toughness and resilience to her frame that made her a perfect test subject for Gold's current theory. With the application of a few psychotropic stimulants to the life-pod's aqueous Biofluids, the girl's already low resistance to suggestion was virtually annulled, leaving her mind open to the slightest suggestion that Nova could make to her...especially given how the resonator allowed Nova free and easy access to the girl's memories and emotional centers. By plucking out choice memories and replaying them in a selective manner she was able to manipulate this Yui quite easily in order to provoke the type of strong responses that were needed.

And what a charge it was feeling this girl emote! Nova felt her own energy levels swell to previously unheard of levels, her body reaching peak performance and efficiency within seconds, forcing her to "bleed off" her excess into the storage reserves of her new Iczer Robo. With a battery source as potent as this Yui she had all the power that she would need to crush her enemies completely...but the unexpected side-effect of feeling this girl's arousal register within her own body gave Nova an even bigger charge than any thoughts of wanton mayhem and destruction!

"OOOHHHYEEEESSS!" Nova cried, her voice matching that of Yui as they climaxed together on a particularly intense bit of mental stimulation, only now it seemed to Nova as if she were the one making out with this other girl, responding in kind to Yui's sexually charged overtures by imagining herself as the girl to whom this Hibiki girl was so passionately screwing! It was the first-ever orgasm that Nova had ever experienced in her young life, and it was so indescribably arousing that she marveled that she had never known such things before! Why hadn't Big Gold informed her that humans could experience such wonderful sensations? No wonder the original designers of the Iczers had gone to such loving detail to genetically sculpt their bodies into such a close resemblance of the human model? And to think, until now, Nova had always thought those capacities were useless and redundant...

"NOVA," a voice cut in on her reverie, "ARE YOU FUNCTIONING WITHIN SAFE PARAMETERS?"

"Whoops!" Nova sobered abruptly, "Sorry about that...kinda got carried away there for a second..."

"DO NOT ALLOW YOURSELF TO BE DISTRACTED BY THESE NEW SENSATIONS WHICH YOU SEEM TO BE EXPERIENCING," Big Gold replied, "IF THEY DISTRACT YOU FROM YOUR MISSION, YOU ARE TO DISENGAGE YOURSELF FROM THE LINK-UP."

Nova felt a surge of panic at that...break her link to this human? When they only just getting to the good parts? Nonetheless she realized that she could not voice such sentiments aloud to her creator, so instead she replied, "Understood, Grandmother...I will manage myself, and I won't forget my mission."

"THEN INITIATE THE SECOND STAGE OF THIS EXPERIMENT," Big Gold replied, "ALLOW YOUR NEW PARTNER TO EXPERIENCE SOMETHING ELSE, WHICH SHOULD GET HER MOTIVATED TO THE APPROPRIATE MINDSET."

"Oh...sure...ahem," Nova awkwardly called up the program filters, then altered the scene inside of Yui's protective shell to call up images that had been recorded by the use of remote sensors, "Hate to wake you up, Cutie...but while you're waiting for me to powder my nose...why don't take in some in-flight movies?"

Yui blinked her eyes, coming out of her somewhat aroused state in order to see images appearing in the space around her...images of Muku Dori...in the company of Rhea...cradling Rhea in her arms and even talking with her in a very intimate manner.

The emotional response this produced was like the shifting of gears in a supercharged racer. Jealousy, resentment, rage and an unthinking desire to lash out at the target of her anger filled her being and the resonator, charging the Iczer Robo itself with a new kind of power reading, which same Nova registered like a shock to her system, causing her to say, "Whoah! What a rush!"

"NOW YOU ARE READY TO INITIATE THE THIRD STAGE OF THIS PROGRAM," Big Gold said in obvious satisfaction, "READY TO BEGIN THE OPERATION?"

"You bet, Grandmother!" Nova declared, feeling the urge to do battle rising up in her like her new companion's berserker temper, "Ready to emerge from subspace and initiate the attack now!"

"GOOD," Big Gold chuckled malevolently, "THEN LET THE GAMES BEGIN!"

And with that the eyes of a massive Iczer Robo flared to life, an ominous portent of many things that were soon to follow...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Rampaging Lemons: shadowmane

The countdown begins once more for Rhea and Muku as they face down a newly supercharged enemy Mecha, but will Yui's rage prove enough to turn the tide of battle for Nova, and if so, what will become of our heroines and their allies? Stay tuned for, "Rage of the Hibikis," or "I have a Crush on You!" Be there!

X -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	26. Chapter 26

Earthchild26

The Earthchild

(An Iczer/Ranma/Sailor Moon/Tenchi Crossover)

by Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi,  
Toshihiro Hirano, Naoko Takeuchi, Hitoshi Okuda,  
TH Tiger and Johannes Huber, along with many Others)

Chapter Twenty-Six.

Jeremy Feeple left class early, his briefcase full of turned in reports and assignments from his creative writing and English major students. Being a teacher in a place where certified weirdness was virtually a curriculum in itself, he was used to encountering the unusual and the strange and even anticipated it as a given.

He hummed a merry tune to himself as he relished the idea of getting home early and surprising his wives (who hopefully weren't doing anything too naughty in his absence). He hoped it would be Itchy and not Asrial, who had a penchant for serving up the most exotic (and ungodly) dishes of the known Universe. It was not that he faulted his alien wife for trying, but sometimes she could try a little too hard, in which case he needed Itchy to run distraction while Jeremy made a grab for the Universal Antacid tablets.

Of course Itchy had her share of problems, but after twenty years of joint marriage he had pretty much gotten used to both their strengths and their foibles. It came with the territory, he supposed, when he had accepted his lot in life to be the husband (at least under Salusian law, if not fully recognized by the legal authority of the United States government) to two of the most daunting women currently on the planet.

Well, make that of their generation anyway...the younger generation...that was a different story altogether...and there were a lot of drawbacks to be found in being the only non-Ninja and non-Salusian in a household devoted to cross-  
cultural shenanigans of the mega-paranormal nature.

As he started to walk down the hallway towards the front exit of the building he had a rather dramatic encounter with two prime specimens of that newer line of Quagmire alumni. With barely any warning to tell him to get the heck out of the way, Koochie and Elyria came charging down the way, the one on two legs, the other by means of a powered battle armor levitation harness.

"He went down this way!" Elyria called out to her sister.

"This time we're gonna nail the little pervert!" Koochie agreed in vengeful tones, "He won't get away with taking pictures of us in the shower-Oh, hi Dad!"

"Sorry, can't talk right now, Poppa!" Elyria called over her shoulder, "Got a pervert to punish, later!"

Jeremy stood where he was for several moments then shook his head and decided to leave by a different exit. His suspicion was that the front area would become a battle zone very shortly if his two hellions should encounter Professor Steamhead's nephew anywhere near to the front gates. He just hoped no other students would get caught in the periphery, neither Quagmire nor his family could afford the insurance rates.

Oh yes, he mused to himself as he by-passed a dozen local hazards on the way to the eastern exit, life at Quagmire was just as he remembered it when he was a kid...everything from high-tech mercenaries to extra-dimensional aliens and demon-spawned cheerleaders from one of the Nine branches of Hell...and then there was that pretty nurse who came from the opposite end of the Theological spectrum, but after a while of being around her you just tended to overlook her wings as a little quirk, much like the elvish ears on the Vulcan History teacher.

Jeremy sometimes wondered what it was about Quagmire that tended to suck one in like a black hole absorbing all light. Of all the various jobs he could have gone into with his life-everything from a CEO position of his grandfather's Corporation to an Intergalactic Prince-why had he chosen to go into teaching English of all subjects? Well, it was not exactly like Arnie teaching Home Economics (with Firearms Safety being a prime part of what he considered a "Home Security System") as well as Phys Ed, but he often did feel like a fish out of water standing on the opposite side of the teacher-student gulf, and being the father of three students here was often more harrowing than going up butt-naked against Lando and his Rival Ninja Corporation!

Of course the downside of the saying, "Never a dull moment at Quagmire," meant that he could not even get to his car without running smack dab into the middle of a major problem...

Or, rather, a problem in the form of a foot the size of a skyscraper, which caused Jeremy to back-peddle and look upward...and up and up and up until he could take in the total size of the giant Mecha before him.

"Oboy," he winced, wondering which of the students had failed to read the sign near the front gate about the parking alien hardware. The thing looked to be two or three hundred feet tall at the very least, and there was no telling how much damage it was doing to whatever was underneath the bloody thing since it probably weighed a few score thousand tons, at the very least!

"COME ON OUT OF THERE, RHEA-CHAN!" a female voice thundered down at him in Japanese from whoever was piloting this particular giant Mecha, "I WANT TO PLAY WITH YOU, AND YOUR LITTLE PARTNER WITH YOU!"

"Um...excuse me?" Jeremy asked.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT?" the voice scornfully cast down at him, as if only just noticing his existence.

"Are you looking for someone in particular?" Jeremy asked, "A student or a teacher?"

"I AM LOOKING FOR ONE KANO RHEA AND HER WHELP OF A PARTNER, SENZENEN MUKU DORI, AND IF I DO NOT FIND THEM IN THE NEXT THREE MINUTES..."

"Excuse me again," Jeremy said, "I'm a teacher and I know most of the students here by name, but I don't know those two in particular...are they new transfer students? If so, then I can have them paged and they can talk to you in the guest lounge."

"WHAT ARE YOU BABBLING ABOUT?" the pilot in the Mecha asked, then paused before adding, "YOUR JAPANESE HAS A VERY ODD ACCENT..."

"Well, I'm not really from Japan, you see," Jeremy explained, "My wife is...I mean, one of them...well, look...my family has strong ties to Japan, but here in America..."

"AMERICA?" the pilot in the Mecha exclaimed, "YOU MEAN THIS ISN'T JAPAN?"

"No," Jeremy explained, "That's on the other side of the planet...you know...four main Islands, one of them kind of liver shaped, off the coast of China, can't miss it..."

"BUT-BUT-BUT-I THOUGHT THIS WAS NERIMA, ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF TOKYO!"

"No," Jeremy replied, "This is Quagmire, in the Mid-West of America. Of course, we do have a sister school out there, which is also named Quagmire..."

"OH..." the giant Mecha pilot replied, and Jeremy stared in fascination as a giant sweat drop actually formed along the side of the robot's head. He'd never actually imagined that they could actually do that! The thing was enormous, at least big enough to fill an entire swimming pool in one drop!

"You want maybe I could give someone a call, let them know in advance that you're looking to find them?" Jeremy asked.

"I'LL FIND MY OWN WAY, HUMAN!" the pilot snapped, and then the giant Mecha vanished in a haze of pixilation.

Jeremy stood where he was for several seconds, staring at the vacant space, and the large foot-shaped crater in the ground before him, which-fortunately-had just missed his car by a few meters (though it presently had been converted into a swimming hole by that aforementioned sweatdrop). At last he shrugged his narrow shoulders, a testament to a lifetime of surviving such weird encounters, and muttered to himself, "You meet the weirdest people on this planet..."

"Tell me, Kenny-boy," Troi mused aloud, "Is this what you humans call a Shakedown or what?"

Ken was in a poor state to reply, still recovered from a double-blow to both his body and his ego, and dangling upside down by one leg (the one presently being gripped single-handedly by Troi) until the contents of his pockets fell out on the floor of the hallway, which did not give one much chance to formulate a thought, let alone a coherent one in response to a question.

He was amazed that the two of them had managed to sneak up on him in the manner that they had. He was certain that he'd had a good head start when he'd entered the school building, but when he rounded a corner-from out of no where-he got slammed by a pair of fists that popped up in his way, one aimed high, the other low, the combbination of which left him bruised and sore in both high and low places.

How had they gotten ahead of him, and so quickly? It was almost like they had teleported into his path, but however they had done it he'd come to finding the world inverted with his eyes about level with their knees, and whoever the silver-haired lady was, he had a pretty good idea that picking a fight with her was not a very good option!

"Oh rats," Sakura growled as she studied Ken's camera in hand, "He's already downloaded the picture to his website! You rat-bastard, couldn't you at least have waited for me to delete it?"

"No problem," Troi smiled, "Give it to me, I'll track it down and bomb out his website."

"Don't you dare!" Ken protested, having gathered enough wits together to at least phrase that much of a reaction.

"Excuse me, little man?" Troi smiled, "You're in a pretty piss-poor position to be making demands, don't you think?"

"But you have no idea of how much trouble I've gone to setting up my site!" Ken all but pleaded, "I've got investments and links there from all across Japan..."

"Yeah," Sakura growled, "And the Shrine link you set up dedicated to ME gets a couple thousand hits a night! And that's only half the file size of what you dedicated to MUKU!"

"Hey, it's simple economics," Ken explained, "You two are the most popular babes in our class, I'm just giving my customers what they want..."

"Really?" Troi mused, "A Shrine site dedicated to you, Sakura-chan? Maybe I oughta check this thing out before I wreck it..."

"Ahem!" Sakura glared at her in a meaningful way, and Troi instantly got the hint and promptly reversed directions.

"I mean, how terrible, and she's your fianc e and all that!" Troi scowled in what she hoped was a convincing manner, "Have you no shame, Benny-boy?"

"Ken," he corrected, "And-ah...could you put me down now? The blood's kind of rushing to my head and..."

"In another minute," Troi assured him, "First...I'd like you to make a solemn promise to Sakura-chan here that you'll stop harassing her and acting like a real Ass and try talking things out here and now like fairly rational people. Deal?"

"Ah...well..." Ken hesitated, "Under the circumstances..."

"You'd better do better than that, Boyo," Troi warned, "I may be new to this relationship business, but I can tell from just a glance at Sakura-chan's memories that you've been harassing and provoking her for quite some time now, which I'll admit is kind of a cute way of trying to win her attention, but new rules apply now that I've been roped into the picture, comprende?"

"Uh...understood," Ken replied, "Now...can you let me down already?"

Troi glanced at Sakura and asked, "Your call, Kid...do I let him down easy, or do I wait to make sure he gets the point? After all, he's starting to turn such an interesting color down there..."

"He is at that," Sakura stroked her chin with one hand as she studied the camera she still held in the other, "Of course if he were a little more convincing about being sorry for what he's done..."

"I'm sorry already, honest!" Ken cried out, "Now let me down...!"

Troi let him go, and with very little warning, giving Ken little time to brace himself for impact as he landed on the floor, then rolled into a sitting position, rubbing his sore noggin.

"That was kind of rude," Sakura remarked.

"Well, I did what he asked," Troi replied, "A martial artist like you ought to be able to handle a little fall like that, no problem, right, Boyo?"

"That hurt, you know," he complained rather mildly.

"It'll hurt a lot more where it counts if you don't take the hint," Sakura growled, "You and this damned camera have been the bane of my existence for the last two semesters, and you're lucky I don't let Troi here drop you on your head several times more! What's the big idea of sneaking around taking pictures of us when we were just having a private conversation?"

"And maybe I should ask you what the big idea is of you getting a new fianc e," Ken glared back, "Or maybe I should make that...a wife?"

Sakura's cheeks flared crimson while Troi just sighed and said, "Blame it all on me if you must, guy...I'm the one who went after your girlfriend and brought her into this whole thing, and now that we've synchronized together...she's pretty much stuck with me, and I'm stuck on her, so if you want one of us the other one comes with the package."

"I won't pretend that I understand what all that means," Ken said as he got to his feet, "But I heard enough back there to understand that this is some kind of spiritual bonding process...am I right?"

"Ah...well..." Sakura's face now went beet red as she tried to form a reasonable explanation, but Troi spared her the task, nodding her head in tacit confirmation.

"Yeah...spiritual, mental and biological integration...that's Synchronization in a nutshell," the tall silver-haired Iczer shook her head and sighed, "We're bonded on a level you can't even hope to understand, Kenny-boy, and you might as well get used to it. I know you've got every right to be angry and resentful about that, but it really isn't Sakura-chan's fault...she just tried to help me out in a tight one, for which I am eternally grateful."

"And for her kindness she has to pay with a lifetime engagement to you?" Ken asked as he purposefully gathered up his belongings and re-stuffed them into his pockets, "And I'm just supposed to go along with this without complaining?"

"Your call," Troi replied, "I wouldn't blame you if you walked, but I respect that there are honor ties that go along with the emotional bonds the both of you share, and to that I'm the outsider. Look, you're an intelligent guy, and I've got enough of a sense of you to know you could make life really complicated for both me and Sakura-chan if you have a mind to, so what say we try and make peace between the three of us...at least for now. Maybe you can get a better sense of who and what I am, and then maybe you might even decide if you like me or not...and I can decide if you're worth all the trouble. Think you can go along with that?"

"Maybe," Ken said rather non-committally, meeting Troi's gaze from an almost even level, "But if I don't like what I see..."

"I'm sure you could be a real thorn in my side if you had a mind to," Troi mused, "But keep in mind that I can do a lot more hurting to you than you could do to me, and I don't just mean the physical stuff either."

"Are you going to leave my website alone?" Ken arched a nervous eyebrow.

"I won't scramble it...unless you give me a reason," Troi promised, "But my face stays off that site...believe me, it's for your own good! I know people who wouldn't blink twice about doing much worse to you than I ever would on the grounds of national security. If I give the word, you could be facing more legal troubles than you could ever dream existed, and I'll shut you down so fast you can't blink if you keep on annoying Sakura."

"I don't take well to idle threats," Ken warned as he glared back at the Iczer.

"Who said it was a threat?" Troi smiled, "Try accessing your site right now...I've just put a lock-down on your account server."

"What?" Ken blinked, "But you can't...!"

"Can't I?" Troi grinned, "I'll have you know I'm on good speaking terms with half the computers on this planet, and while we've been having this little chat I've been conducting a mental chat with the central relays back home, looking you up and finding out the address of every link and site at your server. It only took a little while to hack through all the firewalls and security protocols you've erected to keep people like me out of the Server code, but now I've locked the whole thing down, and I'll keep it that way unless you promise to behave yourself around me in the future."

"You can do that?" Sakura blinked.

"Hey, don't let my good looks fool you, Beautiful," Troi winked, "I may be non-  
typical for a Bioroid, but I know my way around computers."

"I can see you'll be a handful to have around," Ken grumbled, "All right, truce! You win...for now. But I'm still not saying I like the idea of you being engaged to Sakura."

"Fair enough," Troi smiled, "Go ahead and visit your site...the password is Cherryblossom, that should get things unstuck on your end. Sakura-chan, give him back his camera."

"Are you sure about this?" Sakura asked as she hesitated.

"Hey, he needs to see for himself that I mean business," Troi replied, folding her arms while Ken accepted back his camera from a reluctant Sakura.

Ken promptly checked the on-board monitor screen and started tapping through the buttons on the back of his camera, discovering promptly that his site was definitely locked out, but once he typed in the given password he saw his site open up and display a normal window.

"Okay," he said, "So it wasn't such an idle threat. I'll admit to being impressed, but that just means I'll be keeping a closer eye on you, Lady."

"The feelings mutual," Troi replied, "But if you really want to know about me, just ask and I'll give you the grand tour, that should clue you into what I'm all about."

"I'll keep that in mind," Ken replied, starting to move off, "Sakura-chan...I'll see you later in class. You'd better hurry along too if you don't want to be late."

"Oh damn!" Sakura mentally kicked herself, "I forgot...I've got Biology class in another two minutes!"

"Don't worry, I'll get you there in time," Troi assured her while watching Ken march off with a wary backward glance in her direction. She waited until he was out of sight then mused, "Nice butt."

"I thought you didn't notice things like that," Sakura frowned with suspicion.

"I was just repeating what you were thinking, Honey," Troi replied, then chuckled when she saw Sakura color once again, "Honestly, I think I am starting to see what you like about the guy. He's trouble."

"Your sisters say pretty much the same thing about you," Sakura noted.

"Yeah, they worry about me sometimes," Troi paused and thought about it before amending, "Most of the time anyway...but they're like that. And speaking of Biology...did you know that there are some C'thuwulf who think that the men of your world are the product of a semi-intelligent Virus?"

"Say what?" Sakura blinked.

"Yeah," Troi mused, "You know...when my people first landed on your world we did a pretty thorough study of genetic comparisons between your DNA and ours, and it was pretty amazing to see how close a match we are to each other...not so surprising if you buy into the theory that we share common ancestors."

"So what happened to all the men on your world?" Sakura asked, "Did they really all die off from a virus?"

"That's the theory I've heard," Troi shrugged, "Don't really know...it happened so far back in the past that we don't even have records in our archives to explain it. We've always been Female-only for as long as anyone knows, while your branch of the family tree has had men in it for at least a couple hundred thousand years. Maybe you're the parent race, but that doesn't match the Genetic evidence, which kind of implies that we're from the original stock and you're the ones who've mutated."

"That doesn't really make sense," Sakura remarked, "How could humanity have evolved without men?"

"That's the funny thing," Troi replied, "The theory I've heard mentioned is that men were created by some kind of cross-fertilization process, possibly a genetic experiment to recreate the male half of the species. The thing is...out of the millions of genes and that make up your DNA, only about thirty thousand genes are needed to create the baseline human anatomy...that works for both of us, by the way, but in the case of C'thuwulf DNA, we tend to be a little more streamlined."

"I've heard something about that," Sakura mused, "Geneticists say that the vast majority of our DNA is pretty much inert and doesn't do much of anything but take up space..."

"Oh, it does something...but even we're not sure what a lot of it is for," Troi smiled, "Try having a Geneticist for a mother...I had a lot of this stuff downloaded into me when I was just a kid. We think some of that excess DNA is a storehouse of racial memories...past evolutionary drift that mostly went nowhere, but some of it is like a redundant pattern-correction. The funny thing is...men tend to have a lot more of this genetic chaff than the women of your planet...and they're more prone to genetic mutations and instability, as if their DNA isn't entirely stable."

"And you think that makes them into a virus?" Sakura asked.

"More like they are the result of a virus that mutated the female genome to create a 'Y' chromosome, which they pass on to new generations through you women," Troi shrugged, "This means they're more responsible for all the drift and changes in the overall structure of your DNA over the millennia, while we C'thuwulf have barely changed at all from our distant ancestors, making us a bit closer to the original model."

"And that makes you feel special?"

"No, actually it's exactly the opposite," Troi smiled, "I like change, and I think a little instability is helpful. C'thuwulf society is ancient, Sakura-  
chan, and it got calcified a long time before the Gold Virus infected our relays. We've hardly changed at all for thousands of years, while your people have clawed and scraped their way up the evolutionary tree against countless obstacles, and it's made you a lot better at survival. You guys are more resilient and adaptable than we are, and we can learn a lot from deepening the ties between us. That's also why I'm willing to give Denny-boy the benefit of the doubt when it comes to sharing quality time with you, Sakura-chan."

"That's a good idea," Sakura mused as she reached out with a hand and stroked the Bioroid's leather-clad shoulder, only to come away holding a postage-stamp shaped wafer on one finger, "Because you were right about how tricky he is, see?"

"He bugged me?" Troi's already unusually large eyes grew even wider, "Why that no-good, sneaky, son of a...!"

The bell began to ring, and Sakura exclaimed, "Kuso! Now I'm late for class!"

"Never fear and never say die," Troi reached out and drew Sakura into her embrace, then the two of them teleported to another corridor just outside the Biology laboratory, guided there by the mental map of her partner's thoughts, "There you are...better go now before the Teach notices you're out of your seat."

"Right," Sakura cast a grateful look in Troi's direction, which caused the Bioroid to feel a warm and affectionate surge of emotion rise up within her.

She sighed again and looked at the wafer Sakura had handed to her then smiled, "So, you want to play games, do you, Danny-boy? Well...two can play at that one, Buster..."

"Mind if I ask you a question, Muku-chan?"

"You just did," Muku replied, staring listlessly at the sidewalk down which they were strolling as they left Furinkan High school and wandered off into the financial district.

"Heh, so I did," Yumi smirked, "I meant about you and Rhea-chan...are you guys getting serious, or is this just puppy love I'm sensing."

"Puppy love?" Muku stopped in her tracks and turned a quizzical look in her friend's direction.

"Oh come on," Yumi rolled her eyes, "The most popular girl in our school finally begins to get romantic with someone who's new in town, and after ignoring the advances of half the other students in our class-both male and female-and you're acting like it's a surprise to you that me, your best friend, wants to know if it's real or just a passing fling? Give me a break here...inquiring minds want to know!"

"Ah...well..." Muku smiled a bit awkwardly, "I guess maybe I am feeling very close to her these days, what with all we've shared and everything. I mean...she is a very special kind of person, you know..."

"Yeah, one of only four or five on the entire planet," Yumi remarked, "Or maybe more than that, do you think? I'm having trouble keeping count..."

"I don't just mean because of what she is," Muku insisted, "There's...something different about her that doesn't have anything to do with her being an Android, or Bioroid, or alien girl, or whatever. I mean...whenever I look into her eyes, I just feel so...special around her...it's like nothing I can describe in words...like the rush we feel whenever we're linked together in that robot..."

"In other words you're smitten," Yumi smirked, "What's so hard about admitting that you love her?"

"Uh...well..." Muku colored an appropriate shade of pink around her cheeks and glanced down at her feet before saying, "I really don't know if I could characterize it that way...but I do know she means a lot to me, and that she's become very important in my life...so...if that's love...then I guess..."

Yumi rolled her eyes, "You are an impossible romantic! If you keep setting your standards that high, then you'll never really know how you feel about anyone, let alone your golden-haired cutie. I'll tell you this much for sure, she's hung up about you, and there's no denying that she wants to have your baby!"

"Have my...baby?" Muku blinked, looking faintly stunned at the concept.

"It's just an expression," Yumi sniffed, then paused to think about it, "Although...with her people that's really possible. Wow...you could be both a Mom and a Daddy before you graduate from high school...now there's a disturbing concept..."

"Would you stop already!" Muku protested, "I'm just...getting to know Rhea-  
chan...and here you've got us all but...married," she swallowed.

"There's that dreaded M word," Yumi smirked, "I knew it...you're basically afraid of committing yourself. What's the matter, is giving up the bachelor life really all that scary?"

"What bachelor life?" Muku blinked, "Yumi...over the last year or so guys I've known almost all my life are suddenly falling all over themselves trying to date me, and two of my best friends want to go a lot further than that...and now you're making it sound like I'm some kind of...of..."

"Casanova?" Yumi supplied, "Lothario, Don Juanita, Romeo...or would that be Juliet, Helen of Troy, and maybe even Lolita?"

"Lolita?" Muku blinked.

"Well, that really doesn't apply to you, does it?" Yumi amended, "After all, you're both under the age of consent...well, sort of..."

"Age of consent?" Muku replied, "Yumi...I thought we were supposed to be looking for Yui, not planning out my so-called love-life!"

"Well, why can't we do two things at once?" Yumi asked, "Didn't Rhea-chan say she was going back to her place to check up with the central relays there in case they get an energy spike or something that could tell them where Yui is? You've gotta admit, that girl does have some pretty hefty connections, and she's handy to have around at a time like this, even if she is indirectly responsible for what's happened to Yui."

"How is she indirectly responsible for anything?" Muku frowned, "It's not her fault that the bad guys went after Yui."

"Poor phrasing on my part," Yumi amended, "I mean that she's trying to do what she can to make things right, and I appreciate that a lot. I kind of like her...she's nice and very understanding, not a bad sort at all for someone who's only technically half-human, and I know she'd walk barefoot through fire to get even closer to you...so...my question is...how long do you plan on stringing her along before you finally nail her?"

"I'm not stringing her along!" Muku protested.

"But you are keeping her guessing," Yumi pointed out, "What's the matter, Muku-  
chan, afraid of doing it with another girl?"

"No!" Muku protested, then paused before saying, "Well...kind of...maybe...but...but I've never done it with anyone before, let alone another girl..."

"Neither did I until the other night," Yumi grinned, "And you know what? Losing my virginity to another girl turns out to be one of the best things I've ever had happen to me...I really recommend it. If Rhea-chan's even a fraction as talented or as tasty as that Salmon..." Yumi shivered with a lascivious grin that adorned her lovely features.

Muku felt her cheeks flush crimson again, but before she could frame any sort of response to this they heard Rini's voice hailing them from further down the block, and then they turned to see the pink haired girl hurrying to join them, along with the rest of her "Senshi Gang," including the twins-Meiko and Reiko-  
-and Karma alongside them.

"Any luck?" Yumi asked as Rini and the others caught up to them, slightly winded from all their running.

"None so far," Muku replied with a sad shake of her head, "Yui wasn't wandering lost in any of her usual haunts around our school grounds..."

"Maybe if we'd been able to skip our remaining classes we could have done a better search," Yumi added, "You guys are so lucky to have understanding parents. My mom seems to think that a good education is more important than saving the whole planet!"

"Well, she wasn't always like that, at least as far as I remember," Rini noted in passing, "But Yui's definitely the one who's gone missing...and with her tendency to wander around like a loose cannon..."

"How do you expect to find her if she's been taken hostage?" Yumi pointed out, "Seems to me we ought to get with Rhea-chan's people and ask them to do a trace on her...they've got the equipment to find an energy signature anywhere on the planet...or even that Subspace field that Muku-chan and me got sucked up into last week."

"You know," Karma remarked, "That's a very good point...and I'd even admit to wanting to check this place out for myself..."

"That's because it sounds almost like paradise," Meiko pointed out.

"Yes," Reiko agreed with her twin, "Like a world where everybody is just like us, with women for exclusive parents!"

"Not to mention they find that sort of thing completely normal," Rini nodded, "But how do we get a hold of your girlfriend, Muku-chan?"

"Oh, that's easy," Yumi answered for Muku, "You can contact them on that bracelet thingie of yours, Muku-chan."

"Huh?" Muku reflexively glanced at her bracelet, then gave a sheepish look at the others before saying, "Oh yeah...that's right, I can call them."

She touched the jewel on her wrist and spoke into it tentatively, saying, "Um...hello? Is anybody there?"

As much to her surprise as anyone a voice clearly answered back, "I have you on Relay 197, Senzenen-san. I am Sister Chartreuse, how may I help you?"

"Um...is Rhea-chan anywhere around?" Muku asked.

"I'll relay you to her internal linkage," Chartreuse replied, "She is in conference, but I'm certain that she will be willing to speak with you, her Partner."

"Uh...don't bother her if you don't have to," Muku replied, "Actually...I was wondering if I could come over to where you guys are...I mean...can I come over?"

"To central?" Chartreuse replied, "You are authorized for a transfer at any time, Senzenen-san...but I mark that you are with five others, only two of whom have been cleared from a previous transfer."

"They're all right," Muku replied, "I'll vouch for them, they're my friends, and they're very worried about Yui-chan..."

"The Hibiki girl who's been abducted?" Chartreuse replied, "One moment while I seek authorization. Authorization...confirmed...the Commander has cleared you all for an immediate transfer."

The next moment the six girls felt a tingling sensation all over their bodies, and then the world around them was altered from a bright and sunny outdoor setting to the more muted lighting of a reception port. They turned to see a green haired woman operating some sort of control system, then felt another odd sensation briefly pass over them, and then the woman-whose voice clearly identified her as Chartreuse-said in friendly tones, "Your party has been scanned and cleared...no trace of alien influence...and welcome to New Gamora."

"Wow," Meiko declared in breathless amazement as she took in the curiously organic interior of the transfer station.

"What a rush," Reiko exclaimed, "Almost smoother than a Senshi teleport..."

"But not as exhausting," Karma remarked matter-of-factly.

"You've got that right," Rini smiled, "Nice to be back...now...who do we see about our missing friend, Yui?"

"Step that way," Chartreuse nodded to the doorway, through which stepped a uniformed C'thuwulf officer, "Sister Marmalade will be only too happy to escort you to the command center."

Their party proceeded down a long corridor that led to some manner of elevator, which in turn conveyed them up to a higher level. By twists and turns they arrived at their destination, elsewhere in the massive complex, passing by uniformed and casually dressed women of all types and haircolors. At last Marmalade showed them to the dome-like command center, at which point those new to the journey were introduced to the command staff, primarily consisting of Deputy Commander Sepia and Force Leader Cobalt.

"Muku-chan," the silver-haired Cobalt immediately nodded, "Good of you to come back to us, we're facing a little bit of a crisis here and your services may be called upon at any minute."

"What's the problem this time?" Muku asked, surprised at how calm she felt at the implied prospect of going into yet another giant-robot battle.

"We don't really know," Sepia replied, indicating the holographically displayed image of a world map, which was presently showing a number of hot flashes, "The behavior of the enemy this time is...peculiar, to say the very least."

"Indeed," Cobalt affirmed, "They are following no known or recognizable pattern of attack...they just seem to be blipping in and out of various hot zones scattered around the planet. Readings and eyewitness accounts confirm that it is an Iczer-Robo class Mecha, though of what type and function we having difficulty determining due to the constant shifting of its position..."

"The best that we can determine is that they appear and disappear at the outskirts of various High Schools," Sepia remarked, "Quagmire, Tomobiki, Shonome, Riverdale, Graviton..."

"That sounds like Yui," Yumi remarked.

"It does sound a lot like her," Rini agreed, "You think she might be on board this particular Mecha?"

"Eh?" Cobalt turned to them with a puzzled look, "What do you mean?"

"Our friend Yui...remember her?" Muku asked, "She has this...little problem about directions..."

"It's a family curse," Karma revealed, then amended, "One of several that belong to the line of the Hibikis. It somehow scrambles or interferes with a person's overall sense of direction. Line-of-sight is no problem, but give them a clear choice of turning either right or left and they invariably head in the wrong direction..."

"Except when it comes to Mazes and Monsters," Reiko pointed out.

"Yui always seems to find the right way when it comes to wandering in Mazes," Meiko added.

"And if not," Yumi shrugged, "Then she punches a hole through the walls and makes her own exit."

"I...see..." Cobalt replied in tones which clearly illustrated that she did not see at all, "Well...if that is the case, then it is clear that the pilot of this particular Mecha is looking for Furinkan but can't seem to find it. This could work to our advantage as it gives us time to prepare a reception."

"A full squad of Iczelions might be able to contain and delay it for a while," Sepia mused, "Or at least long enough for one of our Iczer-Robos to arrive on the scene and prevent it from doing any major damage."

"But what if Yui's on board?" Rini asked, "She could get killed if there's a major fight!"

"I assure you, everything will be done to prevent that from happening," Cobalt replied, "A loss of innocent civilian life is no more acceptable to us than it would be for you, which is why we have devised a plan to capture this Mecha intact so that the pilot and-whoever is on board-can be preserved and restored to full normalcy."

"Besides which," Sepia mused, "There are larger issues at stake here, for which sake we must somehow preserve the enemy Mecha if we are to put those plans into place. Until now we have largely been a passive force resisting enemy incursions...if our plan is successful, however, we may be able to at last go on the offensive."

"Really?" Muku asked, "Does that mean that the war could soon be over?"

"We hope so, Muku-san," Cobalt nodded, "Now...I suppose you want to know where your partner is? Rhea's waiting for you out by the gardens."

"Oh yeah?" Muku suddenly felt a kind of nervous excitement as she contemplated that particular notion, and the dry sense in her mouth made her wonder if she might be coming down with something. It took an elbow from Yumi to prod her into moving again, along with a very terse, "Well, what are you waiting for, Dummy? Get moving!"

"Don't push me," Muku half-growled as she turned and exited the chamber, leaving her Senshi friends behind to exchange knowing winks and amused glances.

By now she knew the path even without Marmalade's help, and so she dismissed the other girl the moment that she was at the Onsen once again, and-waiting for her-she found Rhea perched on top of a rock wearing nothing but a bath towel around her body, quietly staring at the pool of hot water as if lost in her own reflection.

When Muku approached, however, Rhea looked up at her and smiled once again, a smile which Muku returned with only a little of her usual shyness. Rhea sat up on her perch and teleported over to Muku's side, her hands easily finding their way to caressing Muku's arms, even as she had somehow dressed herself in a more conventional style of C'thuwulf outfit, minus her usual body armor.

"I'm glad you came," Rhea sighed, "I feel so empty when you are not in my sight."

"Ah...yeah," Muku swallowed nervously, "I...kind of know what you mean..."

"Do you?" there was a wondering look in Rhea's large green eyes, "I understand you brought the rest of your friends this time...the ones who have Senshi powers."

"Yeah," Muku nodded, "Yui's a part of their team, not to mention their friend...I couldn't keep them away if I tried..."

"I'm glad they are here," Rhea assured, "Friends should always stay together, especially when they are faced with a crisis. I am sorry if Hibiki Yui is suffering because of me...I know how much she means to you..."

"Hey, I'm not blaming you for that," Muku reassured her, "Yui tends to attract almost as much trouble as I do, and we're going to get her back safe and sound, right?"

"I hope so," Rhea answered, glancing down, "I want you to know...that if you are feeling any resentment towards me because I made you your partner...and the effect that this has had upon your family, friends and your life..."

"What, you think I'm putting all that on your shoulders?" Muku remarked, "Guess again! I've been in tight scrapes most of my life, and long before I met you, so it's not like you've done anything worse than add a little more color to my existence, right?"

Rhea's smile was so dazzling that it literally took Muku's breath away, and for a few seconds Muku thought that she actually looked as if she were about to kiss her once again, but then Rhea sighed and said, "I wish we could have met under better circumstances, and without the threat of a worldwide crisis hanging over our heads. I'd like to imagine that if you had a choice about being with me...that you would still choose to be my partner, and not just because of the bonds of our Synchronization."

"I'd...like to believe that too," Muku said a bit more nervously, "To tell the truth...I was a bit leery about this whole business the first time that I came here, but now...that I've had more time to think about it...and get to know you better..."

"Yes?" Rhea asked breathlessly.

"I...I want to be your friend," Muku replied, holding Rhea's hands a bit more tightly in her own and marveling at how soft and warm the palms and fingers of her new friend felt gripped within her own more callused fingers, "And...more than just your friend. I don't know how far this goes, I'm not even sure if I'm capable of the sort of thing you want from me, but..."

"But you are willing to find out?" Rhea finished for her, then she sighed and lowered her face again, "I guess...perhaps I want too much from you...but the more I get to know you, the more I feel you becoming a part of my own life...it is hard sometimes to wait and be patient. There is so much I want to show you, so much I want to teach you, to share with you, to help you to understand the full meaning of what it means to be a partner..."

Muku saw the forlorn hope in the other girl's expression and reacted on impulse, doing something she would never before even have imagined herself doing, which was to reach out to Rhea with one hand around her shoulder, the other cupping the elvish girl's chin, then leaning her own face in and planting a kiss on Rhea's lips that took the Bioroid by surprise and caused Rhea's eyes to widen by more than a fraction.

Further off, concealed from view by the newly declared couple, Yumi flashed a grin and softly murmured, "Whoohoo! You go girl! About time she got up the nerve to do that! Pay up, Karma, you owe me!"

"And worth every yen on my credit," Karma smiled, "Senzenen has finally admitted to herself that she is a woman, and capable of loving another woman."

"So that's the girl who Muku-chan is dating," Meiko remarked.

"Will wonders never cease?" Reiko said in amusement, "And her girlfriend is even prettier than she is."

"Guys," Rini said a bit crossly, "I admit this is one for the books, but it's a little unseemly for us to be spying on them like this, and besides...are you still worried about Yui?"

"Hey, Yui's always getting into trouble one way or another, Rin-chan," Yumi countered, "But this is something else! You definitely don't see a thing like this everyday! Damn, if only Ken were here with his camera..."

"Pictures of us Iczers are usually forbidden to outsiders," a deeper, more ominously sounding voice resonated from directly behind them, "You could get into a lot of trouble playing paparazi with us."

"Yikes!" Rini gulped, seeing the armored redhead before them and feeling the odd impulse to salute, "You scared me, Commander!"

"That was the idea," Iczer Two remarked, "Now run along...we have facilities for accommodating guests, and Marmalade will be only too happy to show you to them, right?"

The C'thuwulf girl gulped as she, too, stepped from the concealment of the bushes to snap to attention and reply, "Yes, Commander...right away, Sir!"

"Good," Iczer Two affirmed, "Now...move along...I want to have a private chat with my student and her chosen partner."

The young schoolgirls immediately turned and left the area with as much haste as dignity would allow for, leaving the stern-faced Bioroid to watch them flee, only to smile a moment later with an affectionate chuckle and a softly-voiced, "Humans..."

Muku and Rhea were much too preoccupied to notice these exchanges, having once again fallen into a world where only they two existed, Rhea having slipped her arms around her partner in order to return the kiss with passionate interest. Muku was amazed at how soft and warm Rhea's lips felt when pressed to her own, even as she reacted with surprise when Rhea gently-but-firmly pried her lips apart with a tongue and began exploring the inside of Muku's mouth, which turned out to be quite a pleasantly interesting expression...but before Muku could respond in kind a polite cough from behind her drew their attention pack to the greater world beyond them.

Muku turned to look and found a statuesque redhead with pointed ears and other features whose resemblance to Rhea was unmistakable, dressed from the neck down in some manner of black-and-gold body armor, complete with shoulder poltroons that projected to her sides at very sharp angles. There was dignity in her bearing as she turned her crimson eyes their way, and Muku felt an immediate gasp from Rhea, who exclaimed the word, "Auntie?"

"Good afternoon to you both," the redhead addressed them, "And a pleasure to at long last meet with you, Senzenen Muku Dori. I am Iczer Two, the Commander of Gamora Base and Sensei to my niece, Rhea-chan. I regret that, until now, I have not had the honor and privilege of addressing you directly."

"Ah...yes...I mean...yes Sir-Ma'am-er-Sensei?" Muku fumbled.

"Commander will do," the imposing beauty replied before turning a slightly sterner look towards Muku, "I see you've invited your friends to take advantage of our facilities. I should really have a word with you sometime about maintaining security, to say nothing of a low profile."

"Ah...I'm sorry, Auntie Two," Rhea said meekly, "But Muku's friends are...very special people, and one of them is involved in the latest incident..."

"I know all about it," Iczer Two waved the point away before turning her focus back towards Muku, "Believe me, you would both have to work a lot harder to come anywhere near to being the security risk that Troi is...but never mind that. So...you are the woman to whom my Niece is now bonded through Synchronization, and for whom she has gone through so much particular trouble."

"Um...well..." Muku smiled lopsidedly, running her fingers through the back of her hair.

"I can see that you are more than worth it," Iczer Two nodded in obvious satisfaction, "There is that about you which reminds me very much of Nagisa...and of my own beloved Sayoko. I can fully understand now why Rhea has risked termination for your sake on numerous occasions."

"Ah...Auntie...about that..." Muku could hear the wince in Rhea's voice.

"Understand," Iczer Two said sternly, "I do not like it when you are injured, Rhea-chan...you cause great distress to your parents, to say nothing of how I would feel if you were lost to us in battle. You are very precious to us all...but there is one who is more precious than you, and that is always your partner. It is an Iczer's highest duty to always defend and protect the human to whom they are pledged for life, and in this human I judge that you have chosen very wisely. Therefore I will concede that you have performed excellently under very difficult circumstances and have well upheld the honor and the name of Iczer."

Muku could hear Rhea's astonished gasp before the Bioroid stumbled out, "Th-  
thank you, Auntie...I mean...Commander."

"However," Iczer Two went on, "That does not mean that I shall lighten up on your training regimen. I will not be satisfied until you can endure a major battle without taking injuries upon yourself, and now that your partner is fully with us in the program, I will assume that she has no objections to joining us during at least some of your training. Am I right in this assumption?" she directed herself towards Muku, who audibly gulped at this shifting focus.

"Ah...sure...no problem," Muku winced, "I think."

"Good," Iczer Two replied, "Then I will leave you two as you are to continue with what you are doing...however, for discretion's sake, I would advise taking it indoors someplace. Now, I must be off to make training arrangements with our mutual Sensei, whom I have neglected to inform for several days now regarding what has happened with my sister and his daughter. Good day to you both."

And with that she vanished in a pixilated hallo.

"Wow," Muku said as she exhaled a breath she did not even remember having taken.

"She's like that a lot," Rhea explained, "The only one who surpasses my Aunt Two when it comes to icy stares is my Godfather, General Henderson. You don't argue with them, you just nod your head and agree with what they are saying."

"She certainly is something else," Muku reluctantly conceded, only to do a sharp double-take as she turned to Rhea and gasped, "What did she mean about...your sister and who's daughter?"

"Aunt Troi and her new partner," Rhea replied, "Your other best friend, Sakura. Didn't you know that they are Synchronized together?"

"Say...what?" Muku blinked with a totally dumbfounded expression, "Since when?"

"Since a few days ago," Rhea explained, "Right after our last big fight together...didn't she tell you?"

"N-No..." Muku blinked again, "And I never even asked..."

"Oh," Rhea replied, "Well...maybe she was looking for the right moment to tell you...and...I think I interrupted you in the middle of that...oh my..."

Muku paused to think on that, then said, "I guess maybe I should go speak with her about it...maybe find out what the story is from her side of the fence. It's the least I owe her, being her best friend and all that."

"I'll take you to her," Rhea offered, "I think we can be spared from here a few moments, unless your other friend turns up on our doorstep."

"Well, that's the thing about Yui," Muku smiled, "She's like the bad five-yen piece that turns up when you least expect it...but she does have a few consistent patterns...places she'll sooner or later find on her own for one reason or another..."

"Such as?" Rhea asked.

Muku smiled, "I'll take you to one of our favorite haunts...it's where I could probably also find Sakura...kill two birds with one stone and all that, and it's also a place I wanted to show you."

"Oh yes?" Rhea said inquisitively, "What place is this?"

"It's called an Arcade," Muku replied, "And trust me on this...you're gonna love it..."

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Arcades of the Future: shadowmane

Will Nova and Yui find their way to Furinkan, will Sakura be able to explain herself to Muku, and will Iczer Two be able to explain Troi's relationship to Sakura to Sakura's father, her Sensei? For these and other explanations, stay tuned for, "Out on a Limb," or "Saw at Your Own Pace!" Be there!

X -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	27. Chapter 27

Eartchchild27

The Earthchild

(A Ranma/Iczer Crossover)

by Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi,  
Toshihiro Hirano, Naoko Takeuchi, Hitoshi Okuda,  
TH Tiger and Johannes Huber, along with many Others)

Chapter Twenty-Seven.

HENTAI ALERT-THIS IS NOT A DRILL!  
CONTAINS SCENES OF A GRAPHIC AND MATURE QUALTY DEEMED UNSUITABLE FOR SMALL ANIMALS AND CHILDREN.  
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

"Avengers Assemble!"

"Whoops!" Nova declared, "Missed again, gotta book outta here quick!"

"Ngh..." Yui incoherently mumbled, slowly coming out of the daze that had possessed her for the better part of the last few hours. She was dimly aware that her aqueous environment was feeling warm and as inviting as a mother's caress, and yet the party responsible for being here was anything but her mother, in fact, she had vague memories of doing something with her that was anything BUT motherly, and several times over, some sessions lasting more than a quarter of an hour.

"Haven't you got any sense of direction down there?" Nova complained, "Can't you tell the difference between Nerima, Japan, and Westchester County? I mean, those X-guys play rough, know what I mean?, and they kept mistaking my Robo for something called a Sentinel, of all things!?"

"W-Where...?" Yui mumbled semi-incoherently, wondering dimly how she could be breathing normally while underwater.

"Oho, coming out of it again down there?" Nova mused, "Well, Sleeping Beauty, you've given me a pretty wild ride, so maybe we should park and go to it again since I'm feeling in need of a recharge."

Yui tried to move her arms and legs and found them immobile, "W-What are you...doing to me...?"

"Hey, it's not what I am doing, it's what I'm gonna be doing with you that counts, Cute Stuff," Nova leered, finding a comfortable niche in Subspace in which to park her giant Iczer Robo, then teleporting both herself and the semi-  
coherent Yui onto a nice patch of pseudo-grass, whereupon she pounced on the other girl and wrestled her into a very compromising position.

"Hey...what...?" Yui gasped, finding herself naked and on her back looking up into the by-now familiar face of her equally naked and nominal captor, the Cherry-pink haired Iczer, as memories began to flood back into her of the two of them doing this very same thing on several previous occasions.

"Don't try to fight it, Beautiful," Nova purred as she stroked Yui's hair in a surprisingly affectionate manner, "It's bigger than the both of us...I think."

Yui tried to struggle free but the Bioroid's strength outmatched even her formidable Hibiki-spawned Oni power, and all struggling seemed to accomplish was to press her naked flesh up against the equally warm flesh of her oppressor, which seemed to delight Nova to no end the more they struggled.

"Let me go!" Yui insisted, "Are you crazy?"

"Is that a trick question?" Nova remarked as she gazed longingly into the eyes of her helpless captive, "Mother Machine, you are so beautiful...and tasty! I can't get enough of doing this with you...it's like an addiction...!"

"Maybe for you!" Yui complained as she squirmed some more, only to find that Nova was deliberately grinding her hip into her pussy, which caused Yui to arch her back and groan ever-so-slightly.

"Oh yeah, Beautiful," Nova affectionately growled, "That's the ticket...work it, baby...I'll have you juicing up in no time, and then I'm gonna ream you out like there's no tomorrow!"

Yui gasped as she felt Nova move one of her hands to cup and fondle one of her breasts, stroking and pinching the nipple there and causing her bosom to swell into a now-customary hardness. It was impossible to deny that she was deriving some pleasure out of being man-handled (um...woman-handled?) in such a manner, but the fact that this was an involuntary ravishment-technically speaking, a rape-spoiled any enjoyment on her part as she tried to find the leverage she would need to break the hold Nova had upon her body.

Even as she attempted this Nova brought her mouth into play, planting a kiss along Yui's throat that brought about a second gasp, the more so when Nova started painting her way down Yui's torso until she found the breast that she was fondling and started to trace a line of kissed leading up to the aureole, and then she took the nipple firmly between her teeth and Oh-So-Lightly nipped it, bringing yet a third gasp of stifled pleasure from Yui.

"No teeth!" Yui pleaded, unable to say more as she groaned in disbelief when Nova encircled her breast and began to suckle. For the next several moment it felt as though the Bioroid was trying to suck her whole breast into her mouth, which truly was an indescribable feeling, not painful at all, just very overwhelming and completely arousing...

But then something very strange began to happen, her breast began to tingle from within, which Yui would have sworn had not occurred on the previous occasions when Nova had suckled her. All at once she felt as if something were shooting out of her, even as Nova continued to grind Yui's pussy with her hip bone, and to their mutual surprise a wet, sopping sound began to be heard, one that caught Nova just as much unawares as it was for Yui!

"WHOAH!" Nova gasped as she briefly surrendered Yui's tit, "Are you lactating? Oh man! I didn't know you human girls could do that...I mean...at least, not without first having a baby..."

"W-W-What...?" Yui gasped in disbelief, only to blink her eyes as her nipple squirted more milk into Nova's face, spilling some of the transparent-yet-milky fluid onto Yui's chin and cheek, a drop of it finding its way to her gaping mouth, which Yui reflexively swallowed, marveling at the taste on her palate.

"Weird," Nova remarked as she stared at the now-throbbing breast, then smiled, "But in a nice kind of way...and very tasty!" So without further adieu she once again began suckling Yui's breast, relieving the strain that was building inside her and giving Yui a whole new definition of pleasure as Nova began to drink her milk down like a hungry newborn, which was why Yui rolled back her head and gave a sharp cry of approval rather than outrage.

This went on for several minutes during which time Nova brought her hand down to cup Yui's well-lubricated vagina. There was a fire building up inside Yui that she desperately needed to have sated, and like the accommodating kidnapper than she was, Nova went to work probing her depths with her hot little fingers, playing the Hibiki girl like a musical instrument and eliciting such sweet sounds that Nova felt emboldened to go even farther.

"Oh yeah...I gotta have you!" Nova cried at last as she surrendered the nipple and brought her mouth down the trail of Yui's tummy, at last finding her way to the inner thighs of the other girl and working Yui over before bringing her mouth down and thrusting her tongue into the pink meat of Yui's sopping wet crevice.

At this point Yui gave up all pretense of either resistance or outrage and just gave out a cry that sang a tune of sweet surrender, further emboldening her Bioroid ravager to thrust her tongue ever-deeper, far deeper than a human tongue could hope to go, and swirling it around inside there against the velvety walls of Yui's vagina. Nova's nose teased Yui's clitoris and further stroked the flame of her arousal, and all at once Nova's efforts yielded fruit, for Yui's loins fired a load of hot female jism into the hungry mouth of her captive, relishing the way Nova greedily drawn her down and further teased her, working her up again until Yui had no choice but to give off a second orgasm.

Yui's feet were pressed against the ground with her toes arching and her thighs widening the gap that lay between them. Yui balled her fists and hit the ground repeatedly as her body rang out with the force of her third orgasm, quivering her insides like the aftershock of a major eruption, her eyes shut tight and her voice almost raw from all the shouting. Nova continued to eat her out until there was no more juice to be swallowed, at which point she licked the inside of Yui's thighs and moved her head up to grin her way, her face slick with moisture and her grin worthy of a Cheshire Cat. Yui stared at that face and felt a strange thrill, like a sense of infinite wonder.

"My turn, Girlfriend," Nova urged as she got up and repositioned herself, straddling the limp Yui before lowering her own bald loins before Yui's hungry face, tempting the other girl to return the favor with interest.

Yui was too worked up and in a state of heightened arousal to refuse this offer, and at once she lifted her lips and started to "sample" the Bioroid's wares, marveling at how soft and sensitive they were, and how much they tasted like the succulent loins of Trout, the C'thuwulf who had taken away her virginity...at least where it concerned women.

"Oooh yeah!" Nova arched her own back and cooed as she felt Yui begin nuzzling her loins, soft and hesitantly at first, but with much more insistence the longer she tried it. Yui definitely proved to have a talent for this sort of thing as she reached up with both hands and took a firm grip of Nova's ass-  
cheeks, holding her down so that Yui did not have to strain her neck so much in order to ream her, and going to town with a hungry intensity that soon had Nova screaming and begging for release. The longer this went on the hungrier and more aroused Yui was becoming, finding the taste of Nova's cherry-sweet loins intoxicating and arousing, even as Nova threw back her long mane of hair and uttered a cry that was equal parts surrender and triumph.

Of course Yui felt a fire in another part of her anatomy, but Nova did not completely forget her other breast and reached down with a hand to fondle and squeeze it, causing Yui to begin lactating within a few minutes. That heightened the element of pleasure in both of them, so much so that when Nova climbed down from her third consecutive orgasm she wasted no time bending down and straddling Yui once gain so she could have another shot of "breast juice," yielding up a different kind of cream while Yui held her to her bosom and encouraged the Bioroid to drink her fill, thus easing up on Yui's internal pressure.

"Oh yeah!" Nova grunted between sloppy, wet noises, punctuated by Yui's continuous gasps at the feeling of milk being ejected from her nipple, "I definitely won't get tired of this anytime soon...!"

"NOVA!"

"Eh?" the Bioroid paused in mid-suckle, "Who's that?"

"NOVA-REPORT TO ME! WHERE IS YOUR CURRENT LOCATION?"

Nova sat bolt-upright and immediately stumbled, "Er-ah-I'm...looking for directions, Big Gold...I mean, Granny! Honest! I'm just...encountering a few technical difficulties...""

"YOU HAVE BEEN GONE A RIDICULOUS AMOUNT OF TIME! HOW LONG CAN IT TAKE YOU TO FIND THE NERIMA DISTRICT AND TO CRUSH THE ICZER-ROBO KNOWN AS GAMMA THETA?"

Nova winced, "Er...well...it's kind of a long story...actually, I think it's kind of funny in a way..."

"I AM NOT INTERESTED IN HEARING YOUR PATHETIC EXCUSES! RETURN TO BASE AND WE SHALL EXAMINE YOUR PROGRAMMING TO DETERMINE IF THERE IS A FAULT IN YOUR DESIGN. WHATEVER YOU ARE DOING NOW, DROP IT AND RESUME YOUR REGULAR DUTIES TO ME!"

"Um...yeah...recall," Nova swallowed, "No problem...over and out..."

"What are you going to do?" Yui asked, "She sounds angry..."

"Ah, Granny always sounds like that," Nova smiled, then she reached down and gripped Yui by one of her ankles, lifting the leg up and bringing the foot to her mouth, which she began to lick and caress with her face, tongue and cheek, much to Yui's amazement and intense surprise, especially when Nova positioned herself so that she could straddle Yui from a semi-upright position, pressing her loins up against Yui's before grinding their pussies together.

Yui gasped in amazement and said, "What are you doing...?"

"What does it feel like, Sugar Plum?" Nova cooed, "I'm raping you silly!"

Yui might have had mixed qualms about the "rape" part, but there was no question that she was solidly in the clutches of an amorous sexpot who did not know the meaning of the word "quit," and the way she was rubbing her snatch up against Yui's own unfolding pink petals, it felt like they were French kissing with their vaginas, their knobby little clits rubbing back and forth against one another, sensing electric sparks coursing all throughout both of their bodies. In very short order they once-again climaxed together and mingled their love juices together.

"AAAAHHHHH!" both women cried out together, for the splash of hot jism from both pussies meant that they were now joined at the hip with an exchange of fluids that signified their deep attraction for one another.

"OOOOHHHHYYYEEEAAAHHH!" Nova all but screamed, "Now that's really worth shouting about! You do that again, Lover, and I'll eat you up like an Eskimo pie..."

"Why bother," Yui panted in near-exhaustion, "You're just gonna do me again as soon as you feel horny..."

'You got that right," Nova crowed, "Man, you humans are really something! I feel like I'm glowing all over, like I'd glow in the dark! Girlfriend, you are radioactive! Making out with you is like nothing I've ever described in my equations!"

"Glad somebody here is having a good time," Yui gasped, "So...what did you want me for anyway, other than to have a nice screw?"

"Well, that's the unforeseen side-benefit, true," Nova replied, "But the truth is that you were picked as a convenient ally to help me out in Granny's plan to destroy the Iczers. Our previous battles shows that only you humans seem capable of generating the types of power that we've needed to make our Robos operate at peak efficiency. I singled you out because you have a Bioform reading that's way loads more intense than any regular human, and the more I make out with you the more I can feel that power inside you growing...power that's feeding me and making me feel so aroused!"

"Lucky me," Yui remarked, "But why do you want to destroy Rhea and Muku-chan?"

"Not Muku," Nova leered, "Rhea's my enemy, but your Muku-chan could be more than useful for us, especially seeing as how you've got me revved up with curiosity as to how she'll taste when I screw her!"

"HEY!" Yui instantly protested.

"Hey, I was meaning to share her with you," Nova leered, "The both of us going at her...I'll bet we could have that honey pot crying out our names in under five seconds! We'll make her forget all about her little wind-up dolly and have her eating out of your hand in next to no time! Just think of it...you can finally have your Muku and eat her out too!"

"Eat out...Muku-chan?" Yui was faintly stunned at the prospect.

"Yeah," Nova grinned all the more, "Imagine how much fun you could have bending her to your will, to see her groveling at your feet and begging you to make out with her...don't tell me you're not turned on at the idea of seeing her quivering at your feet and pleading for surrender."

"Ah...well..." Yui flushed crimson, ashamed to admit to herself that she did indeed find the prospect highly appealing.

"Now, time for us to get back into the Robo so we can continue the hunt," Nova sighed as she got back to her feet, "Granny won't wait forever, but first we'd better put in a pit-stop at headquarters."

"Why...are you doing this?" Yui gasped as Nova helped her get back to her feet, "Why do you want to hurt Rhea?"

"Don't tell me you're getting soft on the Iczer who's trying to screw around with your girlfriend?" Nova challenged, "I know full well that you'd like nothing better than to beat her senseless with your umbrella."

"Well...yeah, but that's because she's stolen my Muku!" Yui complained, aware that she was sounding and feeling quite bitter on that topic, "But I don't actually want to destroy her..."

"Oh, you'd rather have her groveling at your feet besides Muku?" Nova asked, then blinked, "Hey, that's not a half-bad suggestion! I could get off on watching that little gold wire-head squirm under my heel, especially if I put my foot over her pussy and shove my toe in deep..."

"Uh...that's...not quite what I mean either..." Yui dubiously noted.

"I'll tell you what," Nova looked Yui directly in the eyes and drew her into her embrace, pressing their naked breasts up against one another so that their nipples were mashing together, "You help me get Rhea into my clutches, I'll make Muku a present for you, I'll even gift wrap her up with a ribbon!"

"But..." Yui tried once again to protest, only to have Nova's mouth clamp down on her own as the Bioroid drew her into a passionate full-body embrace that twined their legs and made Yui's head swim with conflicting (but quite pleasant) sensations.

"Time to go, Honey-pot," Nova winked, "But we'll do this again when we make the next pit-stop."

Yui might have protested some more, but then she felt the tug of a tractor beam and before she knew it she was being lifted back into the chest-plate of the giant Robot. In moments Yui found herself breathing in liquid again, strapped down tight within the central cockpit while Nova resumed her place in the head, taking firm control of the monstrous Robot with renewed vigor and enthusiasm.

"All right...now to follow the recall signal back to home base," Nova declared, only to gasp once again as she saw their exterior environment change into something altogether different than expected, "AW NO-NOT AGAIN!"

"This...doesn't look like your home, does it?" Yui tentatively hesitated.

"No shit, Sherlock!" Nova snapped, "What is it with you? How can you even mess up the directions for my homing recall beacon?"

"I'm sorry," Yui replied, "It's not my fault...it's the family curse of the Hibikis..."

"I knew I should have read the fine print when I picked you for a partner," Nova sighed, "Tell me something...is there ANY way that you can find your sense of directions?"

"Well..." Yui said reluctantly, "There is one thing that sometimes works...when I focus real hard on a goal and concentrate...it can actually find things. It's called Psychometry...something I inherited from my mother..."

"Fine...hey, as long as it works, I won't complain," Nova remarked, "So...why don't you try concentrating on finding your way back to Muku?"

"But you'll hurt her if you find her!" Yui protested.

"Hey, I've already told you that I'm not gonna hurt her!" Nova protested, "I might rough her up a bit, but I won't scratch one hair on the top of her head, trust me!"

"Why should I trust you?" Yui asked reasonably, "You're the one who's kidnapped and raped me..."

"Details, details," Nova dismissed the point, "Blame it on yourself for being so sweet and delicious, Buttercup. Now, do you want to see your girlfriend or not? Or would you rather leave her alone to spend more time with her precious Rhea?"

"Rhea?" Yui bridled, "Spend time with my Muku...?"

"That's the spirit," Nova grinned, "Now...just keep thinking about the two of them together, doing what we were just doing a second ago..."

"Doing...what we were just doing?" Yui bridled, "I'LL KILL HER!"

"Now you're getting the ticket!" Nova grinned, "Iczer Gamma Theta...here we come!"

Just then outside of their canopy a pair of bears paused in their daily attempts at scrounging up food from the table scraps and refuse containers left behind by some picnicking tourists. Both bears watched as the enormously large robot vanished from their midst, leaving only a pair of deep crater-like impressions in the place where it had been standing.

"[Hey Yogi,]" grunted one of the pair in bear-talk, "{Now there's something you don't see very day, huh?]"

"[I dunno, Booboo Boy,]" the other bear responded, "[You see one giant combat Mecha in Yellowstone park, you've pretty much seen them all.]"

"[I guess it could be worse,]" the other bear shuddered slightly, "[They might have been...Power Rangers...]"

"[Good point, guess it could always be worse,]" the second bear replied and promptly resumed scrounging for picnic baskets...

"Good morning, Atros, and how are you today?"

"I am...quite fine, Doctor," said the dark haired Iczer warrior as she examined the confines of her well-furnished cell, "You needn't bother keeping me restrained like this...your tests have confirmed that I am quite free from all traces of the Gold virus."

"It's just a precaution until you're fully up and ready," Sister Grey replied, "No sense rushing things now that you're beginning a new life as a free and independent Iczer."

"Free," Atros said without bitterness, "I wonder if I will ever be fully free from the memories that plague me now...to think that I was taken in once again by that...Monster!"

"Hey, it could happen to anyone," Nagisa helpfully suggested from her side of the transparent partition separating her from her nominal "daughter," "At least you're all right now, that's what's important."

"Thank you, Nagisa-san," Atros nodded, only to pause and wince slightly before correcting herself and saying, "I mean...Mother..."

"Hey, it's going to take me a while to get used to that myself," Nagisa assured her, "So...what do you remember of your time with Big Gold?"

"Unfortunately...I remember everything," this time Atros was bitter as she added, "Every sordid, miserable, infuriating second that I was held under the thrall of that twisted betrayal of an Avatar. When I think of all the things I did while believing that I was Neos Gold's creation..."

"Hey, I'm back!" Troi called out as she and Sakura entered the chamber, "How's the spud getting along? Not causing you guys any more trouble, I hope?"

"Oh, no trouble so far," Nagisa smiled, "Other than a severe care of cabin fever."

"Yeah, well, you're lucky if you only have that much to complain about," Troi addressed herself to Atros, "You're looking pretty good there for someone who was on the brink of self-destructing a little while ago, Kid. Glad to see you're looking healthy."

"To which I owe some measure of gratitude to you...Mother," Atros nodded towards them, "But I believe the bulk of my debt is to your companion, who had the intelligence to serve my virtual self that anti-viral program."

"Hey, just glad I could help out," Sakura shrugged.

"So, what are your plans now, Kid?" Troi asked through the partition, "Gonna try and settle down, take stock of your sitch, maybe find yourself a cute honey-  
bunny to snuggle up with...?"

"HEY!" Sakura protested.

"In all honesty...I have no idea...Mother," Atros replied, "Your companion and you may have freed my mind, but you have left me with an emptiness that I must somehow fill through other means. I do not, as yet, have a clear conception of what my purpose is in the greater scheme of things."

"Heck, why make things so complicated?" Troi shrugged, "I'm sure you'll make your mind up as soon as you have time enough to sort through your marbles."

"That attitude may suit you, Mother," Atros said, "But I am not accustomed to operating in life without a clearly designated function."

"Well, now's a good time to learn," Troi reasoned, "I've been working without a plan almost my whole life..."

"We know," Nagisa smiled, "But we love you for it anyway."

"Ah..." Troi glanced nervously at Sakura, who only frowned slightly in reply, "Better watch that 'love me' stuff, Nagisa-chan...ah...after all, don't wanna get in trouble with Oneechan, right?"

"Among other parties," Sakura noted with slight amusement.

"Uh...right," Troi said with a somewhat nervous expression.

Atros stared through the partition then shook her dark mane of hair and said, "I can't believe that you're my mother...we're so different...and yet we are the same."

"You think this is easy for me?" Troi asked, "I'm so used to thinking of you as my clone that it's gonna take me some time to adjust to the idea of being your Momma."

"Tell me about it," Nagisa said, "But I think we'll all adjust over time. Now that you're free of Big Gold and Neos, you can make your own way in the world, create your own destiny in life..."

"Can I?" Atros asked, glancing down, "You may have eradicated the virus that was in me, but I fear that the shadow of Big Gold will be with me forever..."

"Geez, that's such a depressing way to look at things," Troi complained, "Can't you take a more positive attitude than that? I mean, Sakura and me went through real heck to break you loose from that virus, the least you could do is try and smile a little."

"Smile?" Atros blinked, "I...don't believe...that I even know how..."

"Well, there's always a good time to start in the present," Sakura remarked, before turning to the others, "I have to say that I find her attitude understandable...it's not exactly like she's had a lot to smile about until now."

"Good point," Troi nodded, "Guess we're gonna have to work on that once Mom here clears you from quarantine. Don't give her too much trouble and she'll be nice and give you half time for good behavior...ain't that right, Grandma?"

Sister Grey just smiled, "Now that is going to take me some getting used to...but then again, I wasn't expecting you to have a child at this late stage in your life."

"Wasn't exactly my idea," Troi shrugged, "But now that I've got her, I guess I might as well keep her."

"Gee thanks," Atros responded.

"Don't worry," Nagisa said, "You won't be in there for very long, just until we're convinced that you're ready to circulate among normal society."

"Where?" Atros asked, "The human world...or this C'thuwulf outpost which you've created?"

"Your call," Troi replied, "But if you're gonna go topside, then I'd better warn you to get ready to hear a lot of Vulcan and Elf jokes."

"Vulcan?" Atros replied, "But they live forty-nine lightyears from the Earth system...oh," she suddenly caught on, reaching up reflexively to touch her long ears as she belatedly caught her meaning.

"Huh?" Sakura turned a questioning look towards her new partner and said, "There really are such things as Vulcans?"

"Hey, Roddenberry, didn't make all of it up," Troi replied, "He had a few hints from a friendly source...before our time, so we're off the hook for that one."

"Either way," Nagisa said, "The important thing is that we're all together and we're family here, and when you get to know more about what that's like I think you may come to enjoy it."

"Maybe," Atros replied, "I certainly hope that is the case, Nagi-sa-Mother..."

"Work on it a bit," Nagisa smiled, "I'm sure you'll get it right."

"In the meantime," Sister Grey noted, "You do have that other problem to attend to, what with your friend being kidnapped and taken on that wild ride by the renegade Nova..."

"Oh yeah," Troi rolled her eyes, "Way I hear it they've been hitting just about every hot spot in the earth EXCEPT Nerima. That Hibiki curse you mentioned really is something, Sakura-chan."

"In the first place," Sakura said, "She's not really my friend, more like a nuisance classmate who's always causing problems, and in the second place...there has to be a less stressful way to see the world than to get taken on a ride by someone like Yui."

"Well, actually," Nagisa pointed out, "Iczer Two feels obligated to handle that one since she's also our daughter, as disturbing as that sounds on reflection, and from what I heard she took off a while ago with Sayoko and Iczer Beta. They're parked out in subspace waiting for Nova to show her face...although I think she also mentioned something about stopping by your dojo to look up your father, her old Sensei..."

"My dojo?" Sakura blinked, "She's going to talk to my father?"

"Uh...what about, did she say?" Troi asked nervously.

"Something about making an apology, I think," Atros replied, "Iczer Two...I mean...Aunt Two seemed to believe that she owed an explanation to her Mentor...but I'm not sure I understood her reasons for feeling she was in the debt of some male human..."

"Oshit!" Troi winced, "Don't tell me she's going to tell Uncle Ranma about me and Sakura?"

"WHAT?" Sakura blurted, "She wouldn't-SHE CAN'T! Mom and Dad are gonna throw a fit if they found out what I've been doing!"

"Not to mention who with," Troi grimaced, "Look, Kid...we'll have to pick this up later, right now Sakura and me gotta book, later!"

With that Troi took her partner in hand and flash teleported, leaving Atros to blink her eyes then ask, "Is she always this flighty?"

"Are you kidding?" Nagisa smiled, "For her that was relatively stable behavior."

"She tries," Sister Grey admitted, "Even when at times she is very trying. But you'll learn to love her in time, Child, so try and be patient."

"I will try, Grandmother," Atros nodded, "Though I wonder truly if even the Gods have that much patience..."

"...A pretty good crowd for today, eh Ucchan?" Ranma-chan asked his wife as she waited tables in her tight little outfit and served their customers hot plates of okonomiyaki.

"Oh yeah," Ukyo replied as she feverishly worked at keeping up with the steady stream of orders, "I just wish Sakura would hurry home and help out. She's been spending a lot of time with her friends lately, in case you didn't notice."

"Hey, I'm not that dense," Ranma-chan chuckled, "You think I haven't been picking up on the way she's starting to blossom out, just like her mother?"

"Flatterer," Ukyo sniffed, trying not to let herself be distracted from whipping up a new batch of batter, "Honestly though, I'm worried about Sakura. She doesn't talk a lot about her problems, but I can tell that there's something that's been bothering her lately."

"Aw, probably just boy trouble," Ranma-chan remarked as she returned to the counter for another set of orders, "That Ken guy has really been riding her a lot lately...you ask me, he's a little too much like Nabiki, and that camera of his..."

"Maybe you're right," Ukyo nodded at the old and familiar argument to which her husband was referring, "Maybe it was cruel to engage them when they're still too young to know what it's all about. I know our engagement worked out for the better, but...it wasn't without its rocky beginnings."

"Yeah," Ranma-chan nodded, "Tell me about it, and to think, I almost got engaged to marry Akane of all people. Good thing I came to my senses before it was too late..."

"Well, don't let her hear you say that again," Ukyo grimaced, "It's embarrassing enough having to apologize for you when you go teasing her about it, and she's my friend too, you know, so..."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Ranma-chan waved the point aside, "I should try and be nicer to the Tomboy, but is it really my fault if she can't take a joke? Oh...new customer? Welcome to Ucchan's, I...YOU?"

"Me," said the tall redheaded woman who had stepped in through their doorway, dressed head to foot like a business woman of class and distinction and showing off a lot more leg than was usual for her, which drew the immediate attention of every man within earshot as she pleasantly smiled and said, "Hello, Sensei...are you too busy at the moment? We need to talk."

"Uh...sure..." Ranma-chan conceded, "Ucchan...think you can do without me for a minute?"

"Just make it quick," Ukyo nodded grudgingly, then smiled and said, "Hi Two, how's it going?"

"Just fine for the most part, Ukyo-chan," Iczer Two replied, "Sayoko and I are even considering becoming parents."

"Hey, that's great!" Ranma-chan grinned broadly, "Congratulations, when's it due?"

"That depends on how long it takes the laboratory to match our DNA together in order to fashion another hybrid," Two answered, then nodded towards the entrance wing of the restaurant that opened out into the dojo, "Mind if we talk in there, Sensei? I'll only be a minute."

"Sure thing," Ranma-chan told the elvish beauty as she removed her waitress apron and tossed it over the counter, then led the way as she and the other redhead made their way into the dojo, all eyes following their movements as many tongues lolled out in appreciation of the graceful stride of the pantherish Iczer.

Once alone in the dojo, however, Ranma-chan took on a more serious tone as he turned to confront Iczer two and ask, "So what's the deal? Why so serious all of a sudden?"

"Forgive me, Sensei," Iczer Two nodded her head in token of a bow, then she surprised Ranma entirely by falling to one knee and bowing her head in token respect, much like a Samurai paying homage to her Master.

"Forgive you?" Ranma-chan repeated.

"Forgive me for not coming by to visit you more often these last ten years," Iczer Two replied with her head still downcast, "You and your lovely wife were so very kind and generous towards me when I was a guest in your dojo, and it is because of you two that I met Sayoko. I owe so much to you and your family that you are like family to me, and you must know that I would never consciously bring ill favor to either you or your loved ones."

"What happened?" Ranma-chan began to ask when instinct warned him to be cautious, and all at once he asked, "Is it...about Sakura...?"

"Yes...very much so," Iczer Two replied, then hastily elaborated, "Only it is not necessarily a bad thing, depending on how you look at it. You daughter recently did the C'thuwulf a great service, and I am proud to say that she acquitted herself with honor and distinction in several recent battles with the enemy. She is quite well in all physical respects...but there is...a complication that needs explaining..."

"What complication?" Ranma was by now entirely serious in his own expression.

"It is...difficult to relate," Iczer Two replied, "In fact, I do not even know if I have the right to mention it at all. It is rather something that Sakura should be able to share with you of her own free volition. I...believe that it would be better for me to wait until she has found the means of telling you for herself about what has happened. I only bring it up because I feel obligated to make my apology for not seeing what was happening until after it was too late for me to intervene on your behalf..."

"Now you've got me worried," Ranma replied, "Don't beat around the bush, Two. If you know something important about Sakura, then tell me!"

"I would tell you, truly," the redhead grimly replied, "You are her father, and I have quite recently come to know what that means, the significance involved in being a parent. You have every right to know, but it should just as properly be Sakura who informs you, rather than myself. I am here to offer my apologies for any complications which may result from recent developments, especially in light of the fact that it was my sister, Troi, who is the one who is at fault here."

"The kid?" Ranma-chan scratched the back of her head, "What did she do? Talk Sakura-chan into getting a tattoo or something?"

"Um...something like that," Two winced involuntarily, feeling torn between loyalties and secretly wishing that she could apply corporal punishment to her own sister. The idea of tanning Troi's bottom was surprisingly appealing...

But just then a voice hastily cried, "Wait a minute! Dad, you've gotta hear my side of things first!"

"Hah?" Ranma-chan blinked as she whirled around to see Sakura rushing into the dojo with a look of unqualified panic.

"Sis, how could you?" Troi complained as she stormed in after Sakura, "Playing tattletale and running off behind my back? Don't you have any respect for Sakura's feelings?"

"I might ask you the same question, Sister," Two arched the word as she got back to her feet and turned to confront her Bioroid sibling, "Of course I already know the answer."

"Hey, I care a lot about Sakura-chan's feelings!" Troi flared as she got right up nose-to-nose in front of her fiery elder sister, "But it's her call about when she informs her old man about things, you got it?"

"I agree," Iczer Two promptly responded.

"Oh yeah? And another thing..." Troi stopped herself in mid-tirade, blinked her eyes then asked, "You do?"

"I agree that it is up to Sakura to inform her father about what has occurred due to your actions," Iczer Two replied, "I am only here to offer an apology in advance to his knowing about it. The Goddess knows somebody needs to apologize for what has happened."

"Are you saying that I won't?" Troi pouted.

"I would say, without qualification, and after a lifetime of watching you duck responsibilities of all manner of past incidents, that the likelihood of you apologizing to Sensei is very remote indeed, if not altogether unheard of," Iczer Two answered, "Which is why I took it upon myself to do the deed for you."

"Well, whoopty doo!" Troi snorted, "Hope you didn't sprain anything trying to give yourself a medal..."

"Would you guys just SHUT UP?" Sakura snapped, then said, "Dad...um...well...there is something I've been meaning to tell you...actually...it's kind of funny in a way...I mean...I've been talking to Ken and...well...we still have to work out a few details, but...um...ah...ah..."

Ranma-chan blinked, "Something to do with Ken? You mean your engagement?"

"Ah...ah...yeah, that's it, right," Sakura openly sweated, "Well...you know what he's like...he can be a real jerk sometimes, but...well..."

"But you're thinking on setting the date already?" Ranma-chan patted her daughter's arm and said, "Sakura-chan, we've been over this already. I know being forced into an engagement without prior consent ain't no fun, but we made that stupid agreement with the Tendos, and I said you'd have to wait until you were both out of High School, and I meant it. Nobody's gonna force you to marry anybody without letting you decide this stuff for yourself, and I'm gonna stand firm on that no matter what anybody says about the subject. Of course...if you want to marry early, I won't say no...you know I'll always stand by my little girl if you make up your mind about any of this, right?"

"Ah...right," Sakura nodded, "Thanks, Dad...you're the greatest!"

"Heh, I coulda told ya that," Ranma-chan smirked, then turned to Iczer Two and said, "So, what was the big deal, Two? Doesn't sound like anything you gotta apologize about."

"Well..." Two replied reluctantly, "Actually...MMMPPPH!?" she stammered as Troi suddenly latched a hand over her mouth.

"Hey, no problem for me," Troi said, "Just trying to help out Sakura-chan, y'know? When I heard that she and Kenny-boy were having problems...well...good natured me decided to play Cupid and all that, especially since she helped me out rescuing my own kid from a tight one..."

"Oh?" Ranma-chan arched a crimson eyebrow, "You've got a kid of your own now, Troi?"

"Just found out about it myself," Troi said as she took her hand away from the mouth of her indignant older sister, "Came as a real surprise...looks a lot like me and everything, but when you play the field as much as I do..."

"Spare me the details," Ranma-chan chuckled, "I never could figure out how you C'thuwulf types do it."

"You would be...amazed if you knew," Iczer Two glowered at Troi, who just adopted a look of stoic indifference.

"Now, as for you, young lady," Ranma-chan turned back to her daughter, "Your mother needs help at the counter, so you'd better get into your chef's gear before she comes after the both of us with a spatula."

"Right," Sakura nodded, then hastily left the dojo and headed for the stairway.

"Guess that's my cue to take off," Troi smiled and teleported away before Iczer Two could contradict her.

"She's a good kid," Ranma-chan smiled, "But I can tell she must be a real handful for you, Two."

"More than you could ever imagine, Sensei," Iczer Two replied, "I must go...I said what I needed to say, but now Sayoko is waiting for me, and I dare not keep her waiting any longer."

"I'll bet," Ranma-chan nodded as the fiery and statuesque Iczer vanished from the dojo, but once she was alone again the Master to the Anything Goes Ryu lost her smile and took on a more serious expression.

"What the heck was that all about, Sugar?" Ukyo asked as she appeared at the door to the dojo.

"I don't really know," Ranma-chan replied, "But I'd bet a month's wages it was over something a lot more serious than that business with Ken."

"Then why didn't you ask Sakura-chan to spill the beans and come clean, Ranchan?" Ukyo wondered.

"Hey, it ain't been THAT long since I was her age," Ranma-chan snorted, "And you ought to remember what it was like for me to have to explain myself to Pop and Uncle Soun whenever I got myself into a real fix. I'm not gonna pressure her into telling me what's really up here, but...I got my suspicions..."

"Suspicions?" Ukyo frowned, "Now you're starting to make me worry, Ranchan."

"Me too," her husband/wife replied, "But it won't do to call Sakura-chan a liar, so...whatever is up between her and the Iczers, it'll have to be her call to let us know what the real deal is...but I'm telling you, Ucchan...I am starting to worry. It's like d j vu all over again..."

"Tell me when it ain't like that, Ranchan," Ukyo smiled lopsidedly, then glanced with a worried expression at the ceiling to the dojo...

Rhea was delighted and did not bother to hide it as she competed in the "Virtual Dome" beside Muku, working the controls of a sophisticated gaming system designed to replicate the insides of Labor capsule, having an intuitive grasp of the basics behind the concept of "ROBOJOX WARS," the name of the current game which the two of them were playing.

"Hah, nice one!" Muku crowed as she worked the controls of her own station, seeing the lifelike "Three-D" Holographic detail on the monitors and window plate units that her console was using to simulate actual battle.

"You are very good at this yourself," Rhea responded as she worked her controls to make effective use of her armament supplies, being careful to watch the gauge that would inform her when the drum was approaching critical empty.

"Oh man, how did you do that?" Muku reacted as she barely dodged a salvo of missiles.

"It is easy," Rhea replied, "Just think of the suit as an extension of your own body, and the rest becomes automatic."

"Hah, then take this one, Miss Perfect!" Muku declared as she brought her laser arm into play and targeted Rhea's simulated Mecha for a salvo, which same Rhea dodged by instinct.

"Very good," said the actual Rhea, who was actually seated in the booth directly beside Muku, facing in the same direction while pretending that she was in an actual Combat Labor, "But you left yourself open for this..." and with that she deployed her last remaining missile and watched as it scored an unerring point-  
blank detonation on Muku's unprotected chest plate.

"GAAAH!" Muku cried as the red letters flashed before her helmeted eyes the words, "GAME OVER!" She powered down her console then growled, "I want another game! I never even saw that last one coming!"

"That was the idea," Rhea said in amusement, "And you've already lost to me three games out of four. Are you certain that you can withstand further humiliation?"

"Hah, just watch me, Rookie!" Muku declared, feeding game tokens into the slot to reactivate her helmet.

"As you wish," Rhea dutifully chimed as she, too, placed two tokens into the feed slot then prepared to once again engaged in Labor Combat, "I must say, however, that playing this game gives me great insight into how you have learned to master the basics of piloting an Iczer Robo."

"Well, it's not exactly the same," Muku conceded as they moved their Robots into combat position, "Your Robos tend to work on direct neural feed impulses, right? But this is where physical coordination and skill come into play, which ought to give me a technical advantage."

"Whatever you say, Muku-chan," Rhea replied, readying herself once again for battle, "But I thank you for introducing me to this game...it is most stress-  
relieving, and the best part of all is that no one is actually hurt in this form of combat."

"Nothing hurt except my pride you mean," Muku chuckled as she started lining up Rhea's Mecha in her target sites, "And didn't I tell you this Arcade is a great place to unwind for a while?"

"Oh yes, definitely," Rhea agreed as she moved to avoid Muku's initial attack while conserving her own fire until she had a clear line of sight for retaliation, "This is most relaxing...and it helps to train reflexes and home one's sense of the dangers of battle. The other amusements here are equally quite fascinating and emotionally diverting."

"Glad you're enjoying yourself, Honey," Muku declared while she brought her firepower to bear applying pressure against the opposing Mecha, "Sakura and I come here all the time to blow our allowance, and sometimes Yui takes both of us on in the third booth...a three-way between us can get pretty intense sometimes, almost like when we go at it in the dojo."

"I notice that there are six booths lined up side-by-side here," Rhea noted while beginning her counter-offensive, "Perhaps we could all do this sometime together?"

"Yeah, maybe we could at that," Muku replied, then declared, "HAH! I winged you!"

"Guess again," Rhea crowed triumphantly as she turned her Mecha on its side and unleashed a salvo that caught Muku almost totally flat-footed.

"YIKES!" Muku shrieked as she hastily hit her jump jets and rocketed out of the line of fire, just barely skirting being clipped by a few of the missiles. In retaliation she dropped a few of her mines and watched them land dangerously close to Rhea's position.

It was Rhea's time to yelp as she pulled her Mecha hastily out of the line of detonation, but one mine came a bit too close and her simulated Labor, which registered as a critical hit with an appropriate lessening of the integrity of her armor. With that vulnerability so registered Muku had little trouble finishing her off with her blasters.

"Hah, gotcha!" Muku crowed, "Looks like we can chalk this one up to the pro, Rhea-chan."

"I guess you are right," Rhea replied, not the least bothered to concede victory to her partner, "You are very good, and I can understand where you gained such well refined battle instincts. I had thought the advantage was mine this time, but I will gladly yield to a superior opponent."

"Well...not that superior," Muku sheepishly grinned as she pulled off her helmet, "I'm starving, want to get a few snacks? I'll pay."

"Thank you," Rhea replied, also removing her visual helmet, "My mother always said that I should try more regular earth foods...what would you suggest?"

"Glad you asked," Muku said as she left her booth and joined her fiery gold haired companion, "I know just the thing to perk you up for a second round of Robojox, and then I'll show you some of the other stuff I like to play whenever I get the chance. This place is like a smorgasbord for the latest computer-  
assisted arcade games, and you haven't lived until you try the Virtual Tag Jungle Dome, it's really cool and even better than fighting robots."

"I'll take your word for that," Rhea said, adding in a hint of even deeper affection, "But you know that I will enjoy doing anything as long as you are with me, Muku-chan, and someday maybe I can show you a thing many times more enjoyable than playing arcade simulation games...when you are ready."

"Huh?" Muku blinked, pausing in mid-stride halfway to the arcade snack bar.

That was when Rhea suddenly tensed up and glanced hastily to one side, but before Muku could ask what was the matter the sound of a tearing, grinding, shredding noise permeated the air and caused the heads of everyone in the arcade to turn in disbelief in time to see a giant hand ripping a portion of the dome-  
like roof away, exposing the face of a colossal Iczer Robo.

"YES!" a voice rang out over the screams and general dim that accompanied the arrival of the enemy Mecha, "THIS TIME I'VE FINALLY DONE IT! I'VE FOUND YOU, RHEA, AND YOUR LITTLE PARTNER WITH YOU!"

"What the hell?" Muku gasped with a horrified expression.

"Watch out!" Rhea cried as she shoved Muku to the floor...one moment before several tons of steel and rubble came crashing down on top of them, rendering the pair into a sudden onrush of darkness overwhelmed them.

"OOOPS!" the voice of Nova exclaimed, "DID I ERR?" being the final words Muku heard before the darkness swallowed conscious thought altogether...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Surplus Tax Schemes: shadowmane

The forces converge to come to Rhea and Muku's rescue, but will they be in time to prevent the golden pair from winding up in the clutches of Big Gold and her minions? Find out next time in: "Virtual Unreality," or "Once Upon A Time on C'thuwulf Prime!" Be there!

X -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	28. Chapter 28

Earthchild28

The Earthchild

(A Ranma/Iczer/Sailor Moon Crossover)

by Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi and Naoko Takeuchi)

Chapter Twenty-Eight.

Argent reported for duty at Command Central, crisply saluting her superiors and hailing them with a brisk, "You sent for me, Commander Umber?"

"Yes Argent," her commanding officer responded, "You've been selected to head a special project that has the full approval of the Spectrum Council. We are implementing a new technology that should revolutionize planetary defenses and give the C'thuwulf system a strong symbol of hope in a bright and glorious future."

"Sir?" Argent asked politely, hoping her superior would be forthcoming with more details.

"As you know," Umber sighed, "The C'thuwulf Empire has been in a slow and steady state of decline for a number of years now. We once dominated this entire sector with unquestioned supremacy, having twenty three systems and several dozen planets and colony worlds linked together in this sector through our central mainframe. Unfortunately we have become too complacent, known too many years of peace and security, which has bred indolence and apathy into our entire civilization, and that has led in turn to many stunning reversals with our neighboring rivals pressing in against our borders."

"I don't see why this should be of concern to the Spectrum council," Argent replied, "We still hold a technologically superior edge to the Rushdar, Oni, Jurai and Salusian conglomeration..."

"Do not be so quick to dismiss those ancient and worthy empires, with whom we have long had many peaceful trade and military relations," Umber cautioned, "The Council has recently been compelled to make an appeal to the Jurai Emperor for certain concessions, and we have been forced to trade away some of our less secure borders in order to ally with them, further shrinking our own empire and leaving us vulnerable to the younger and more aggressive races."

"Then how may I serve the interests of our people?" Argent asked.

"I was coming to that," Umber sighed, an ancient matron who hardly looked as old as her two hundred years of life would attest, though even C'thuwulf technology could not sustain one as long as a Juraian might last through their own organic technological prowess, "First off...I wish to explain why you were selected for this prototype mission. For one thing your service record is exemplary and you have high marks in all bio-aptitude and physiological readings. In short, you are a brilliant officer at the top of your form, but...more to the point...you are presently unattached, having so recently suffered the loss of your previous partner."

Argent bit off a curt response that came to mind right then, reasoning that higher ups were prone to being blunt when they wanted to gauge your reactions, but in truth that statement nettled her deeply. The wounds in her heart were too soon, too recently healed for her to wish to be reminded about the loss of Aura, her late and deeply lamented partner.

"What has that to do with anything?" she asked in as controlled and even a level as could be managed.

"Everything," Umber sighed, "I don't wish you to believe that we are ghoulish, heartless creatures at Central Command simply because a few of us are too old to remember what it felt like to lose a partner on a critical mission, but understand, Lieutenant Aura signed on as a Defender of our people with the same considerations that you have undertaken. Her noble sacrifice has been deeply honored by the Council, who have elected to use her Bio-genetic pattern in the formation of a new type of weaponry vastly superior to either a Void or a Gea."

"You...have used her remains...?" Argent spoke the words softly, though privately horrified at the thought of Aura's remains being desecrated.

"Only a small portion of what was obtained was used for study and encoding of the genetic sequencing," Umber reassured, "All proper rites were observed in laying your partner to rest, but that which lives on now has been dedicated to her memory in the form of a new prototype, who will become your new partner."

"My new...partner?" Argent's eyes grew appreciably wider.

All at once she sensed a phasing in displace the air about two meters over to her right, and as Argent turned to see who it was that was teleporting in from the subspace channel she had to stifle a momentary gasp that escaped her, for...almost it had seemed as if Aura herself was standing there...but a closer look dispelled that notion. For one thing the stranger had ears more like an Elesian, and though her features were distinctly C'thuwulf, her eyes were somewhat...larger, reddish colored and highly expressive.

"Peace be with you," this stranger said in polite greeting, "I am Iczer One, your new partner."

"Iczer...One?" Argent replied, feeling a vague sense of unreality at this momentous meeting...

"Post Alpha, this is Iczer Aleph reporting...we have arrived at the designated target coordinates and are scanning the area for life signs, over."

"Affirmative, Aleph Unit," came the relayed reply, "We are tracking your movements in the target area. Your readings are coming in positive, but we make no life signs at the outpost site. Do you confirm this?"

"Roger, Alpha," Iczer One responded, "We copy that no life signs reading...whatever destroyed the outpost was very thorough and methodical. The only energy signatures we make are residual signs of dormant equipment activity, the rest is in full shut down."

"Confirmed, Aleph Unit, maintain position and continue your investigation."

Argent privately fumed as she sat idle in the chest capsule of the massive Iczer Robo. She might as well have been a potted plant for all the good that she was doing to this mission! Some teamwork on their part...she did not even get to pilot the bloody robot, leaving all the critical area functions to her Bioroid so-called partner! All she seemed to be doing was float around in Synthetic Bioamniotic fluid serving as a backup power supply as the Robo's auxiliary systems were supposed to feed off of her Iczerio energy...her mind and emotions!

And this Iczer One...some partner! Outside of serving as a painful reminder of all Argent had lost with the death of Aura, this artificially created substitute lacked a full range of human experience and emotions, being little better than a child herself, stumbling and as inexperienced in life situations as she was uncertain about the function of her creation.

That her genetic designers had given her a perfect physical specimen of flawless beauty who neatly copied the human form down to a detail that was microscopic only added to Argent's sense of frustration. It was not truly the Iczer's fault that she was still shy and hesitant at sex, but she seemed to be earnestly learning how to exchange pleasantries when it came down to relieving tension and stress in Argent's all-too human body. Iczer One's fumbling inexperience in that regard just reminded Argent of how much work she had on her hands if she was going to help her partner achieve full sentience through the process described to her as "Synchronization." Having a Bioroid who could actually perform this well was surprising, but it only further served to remind Aura that-similarities aside-Iczer One was simply NOT Aura!

How could she ever expect a living machine to be a substitute for a human woman anyway? Those idiots at Central Command must have been laughing up their collective sleeves when they thought this one up! Voids and Gea were incapable of this level of sophisticate interpersonal interaction, so the Iczer model must have seemed like a considerable improvement just because she could achieve satiation with sufficient mind and body stimulation. Argent craved a great deal of affection in her own interpersonal relations, and since losing Aura she had been unable to enjoy sex on the same level that she had once taken for granted. How did her so-called superiors expect Argent to function at peak physical and emotional efficiency if she didn't have a skilled and artful partner? It went against the grain of everything that C'thuwulf civilization stood for, which only served to confirm Argent's mental estimation of Central Command itself as being comprised of a group of genetically fatigued defectives!

But still...Iczer One was trying to learn, and though it felt more like Argent was teaching a younger sister how to enjoy the fruits of her body, rather than cultivating a proper lover, still and all she had to confess to herself that there were certain possibilities yet to be explored in their relationship. Of course, what the Bioroid lacked in personal skills she more than made up for in all other technical angles, being encoded with the highest level of proficiency and intuitive understanding for machines that Argent had ever personally witnessed. Perhaps with a bit more training Iczer One might become a more well-  
rounded being, perhaps even they might achieve this imagined magical state of Synchronized Biorhythms that the theorists had described as total mind and body integration. It certainly sounded as though it were something to be desired, the ultimate high, in Argent's opinion, and the closest thing to mutual orgasm that she might hope to experience in a relationship with this super-charged partner.

Of course the fact that Iczer One was a walking storehouse of Iczerio energy, capable of manifesting vast amounts of potentially destructive energy on command, was a notion to give Argent pause, if not make her feel downright intimidated. Iczer One was a thousand times as strong and resilient as a normal C'thuwulf woman, able to cancel out gravity and inertia, to fly on her own power, to teleport at will and merge with Subspace with hardly any effort. That and a host of other abilities certainly made her a force to be reckoned with in any sense, and when commanding the Iczer Robo that was her other self, she had the raw power of an entire battlefleet at her disposal. Even the Jurai did not wield weaponry as imposing as this, for all their vaulted claims to the near-  
magical Jurai power (which Argent suspected to be nothing more than a different type of Iczerio life-energy wrapped in mystical trappings).

"Alpha Post," Iczer One abruptly spoke up, "I am making out a faint energy reading coming from the central core of the outpost. Request permission to investigate."

"Affirmative, Aleph, you have permission."

Argent was called back from her private musings, watching like a passenger as Iczer One steered their giant mecha in closer to the ruins of what had once been a thriving outpost community on the fringes of C'thuwulf space. Moments later they descended through the ruptured ceiling of the outpost, drifting down to the central power core, which had been exposed to raw space and hard vacuum by whatever explosive blast had destroyed the Outpost Central. Argent stared in dismay at the amount of wreckage all around them and murmured faintly, "What could have done this?"

"Unknown," Iczer One replied to Argent's musings, "But whatever it was, the lives of fifteen thousand C'thuwulf were extinguished in the space of a few sectaurs. Such a loss of human potential is...to be regretted."

That comment surprised Argent, for it did not sound quite as atonal and emotionless as many of the things that her new partner was wont to say when making an observation. This did not sound like the dry and technically accurate form of speech that she had come to expect from the Iczer, it felt genuinely sorrowful, even wistful, as though the pain and suffering that took place there was affecting her on a deeply personal level.

"You're learning," Argent murmured in faint amazement.

"I have had a good teacher," Iczer One replied, "Human life is valuable...you have shown me this. These people had lives and careers...they were not mere units to be casually dismissed or discarded."

Argent would have patted the Iczer on the back for making that observation. And to think, entire quarters had been wasted trying to make that single point to the Bioroid, who only now seemed to be on the verge of understanding the human condition!

"We are nearing the active portion of the power core," Iczer One reported, "Recommend containment procedures be initiated. We must take a core sample for examination by Central."

"I copy that," Argent replied, "How do you recommend we proceed?"

"Cutting torches would be ineffective," Iczer One replied, "I am going outside to use my beam saber to remove the outer casing. I shall need the containment vessel...will you assist me?"

"Oh yes," Argent smiled, glad to be doing something useful for once, even if it meant having to leave the comfortable environment of her Bio-capsule.

Moments later, suited up in environmental space armor, Argent drifted beside the Iczer, who needed no suit to sustain herself in hard vacuum, while the latter summoned up her energy blade and use it to slice through the thick protective casing surrounding the core, creating an opening just wide enough for the both of them to negotiate without much effort.

"There," Iczer One gestured inside the pod, her voice more telempathic than audible, there being no environment on the asteroid which might have conducted sound had she been speaking directly, "That cell node is the source of the residual power reading. Remove that and store it in the containment vessel, then we shall report back to Central."

"I copy that," Argent agreed as she began to move forward, holding the vessel in one hand while working the servo-arms of her suit in order to remove the Memory Node without actually having to touch it.

However, when the servo-mechs made contact with the node, something happened that surprised the both of them...some sort of fibrous material leached out to engulf the servo-hands as they closed on the node and attempted to uncouple it from its housing. Argent instinctively flinched back, but the servos held her still while the gel-like goop leached out and began to make contact with her environmental suit.

"WHAT?" she cried out with instinctive terror of the unknown, sensing this substances was in some way hostile to her person.

"Hold still!" Iczer One said sharply, and with a slash from her beam saber she severed the connection between her servos and the housing, though this had the somewhat beneficial effect of snapping the node itself loose from its coupling. Iczer One avoided making contact with the thing as she snatched up the vessel from Argent's unresponsive hand and used it to capture the node, even as the glistening goop which had surrounded it disappeared altogether.

"WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE GODDESS WAS THAT THING?" Argent cried as she felt her wrist begin to burn where her suit was partially melted.

"I don't know!" Iczer One declared frantically, "Hold still..." and with that she removed a capsule containing Enviroplast and used it to form a seal around Argent's suit rupture. Iczer One then gripped her with surprising fierceness and said, "Hold on, I'm going to get you back inside the Iczer Robo!"

Argent barely had time to say a brief curse from behind clenched teeth as she felt her suit dissolve all around her, then-before hard vacuum could do her any harm-she was whisked back into the safe, warm environment of her life-  
preserving chest capsule.

"Hold on," Iczer One reported from her command seat in the head, "Alpha Base, this is Unit Aleph, requesting an emergency team to meet me at the cradle! My partner has suffered injury while assisting me in obtaining a memory node from Outpost Central."

"Acknowledged, Unit Aleph...what is the nature of the medical emergency?"

Despite the pain she was in, Argent thought she heard a note of worry and hesitation in her partner's voice as Iczer One replied, "I...I don't know...but I believe it may be bio-contamination!"

The next thing she knew, Argent closed her eyes and opened them up again, and she was in a different environmental capsule, and beyond the translucent bubble she could see technicians at work running a medical diagnosis.

And...more significantly...Iczer One staring at her with undisguised concern in her expression.

"...Lucky she got back in time...never seen anything like this..."

"We've arrested the infection, but the arm is going to need extensive remodification...what was in that thing to do this to her?"

"Unknown...some kind of bio-gel...unknown type...that node they brought in...lab techs still trying to make sense of the readings..."

"Did they download anything useful from the memory?"

"Unknown, Sir...but the Techs are being unusually quiet..."

"...Speaking of quiet...hasn't left her partner's side in two rotations...you think she's actually worried about her human partner?"

"Never met a Void or Gea who could do that...this new model sure looks different...acts different too..."

Argent could barely make sense of the snatches of conversation that she could somehow make out on the other side of the partition...and weren't these things supposed to be sound proofed or something? She could hear an awful lot of background noise, but most of it was just rambling, incoherent sound, nothing useable or sensible to give her more of a grasp over her situation.

"Argent...are you well?"

Argent focused her eyes upon the anxious face of the Iczer, "Well enough...how...?"

"Your Bio-Iczerio levels have been artificially elevated by the regenerator," Iczer One replied, "You are hearing on a level far above your normal threshold. I ask if you are well because the Techs keep assuring me that you are in no danger, but I can feel that you have residual pain in your arm. I am sorry for that...I should have acted sooner to protect you."

"Don't worry about it," Argent automatically replied, not wanting to needlessly frighten her partner, though she had to agree that the pain in her arm had not fully subsided, and why did it feel like her head was full of some type of congestion? She tried to focus again and said, "The Node we brought in...?"

"I do not know," Iczer One shook her head, "They have been studying it for the part three rotations without formulating any theories on what has contaminated the memory core, or how it might have resulted in the death and destruction we saw. They believe it may be somehow related to experimental research that was being conducted at the outpost...something about an ancient artifact that had been discovered by the researchers...thousands of cycles old, possibly as much as one million."

"A million cycles old?" Argent blinked, "Are you kidding?"

Iczer One just answered blandly, "That is what they have told me, but unless I access the central database directly I can neither confirm nor deny this. Argent...I have been very worried about you. The contamination that got into your system...it has not been fully purged as yet. They do not seem to know what it is that infected you...some kind of modified bio-agent..."

"Oh," Argent paused a moment before asking, "Do they think I'm going to die if I get out of here?"

She instantly regretted her words, for the look of terror that came over the Iczer was surprisingly human, as was the force with which the Bioroid declared, "Don't say such things, Argent! You will get better, they will find a way to neutralize this agent. I know that you will soon be restored to full active service...you have to be. I...need you to be my partner."

Argent looked at the Bioroid as if for the very first time, actually seeing the element of Aura in her makeup that had been there all along, the active concern and emotional bonding which distinguished a true partner.

"I..." Argent started to say when alarm claxons sounded, startling everyone, especially Iczer One, who looked around as if reading the very air around her.

"What is it?" one of the Med Techs asked, "What's that...?"

"It's a Crimson alert...are we under attack?"

"No...worse! Much worse!" someone reported, "There's been a breach in Regenerator systems...something has taken control over the main central..."

"By the mother-it's creating a new Avatar! I'm making out biogenetic readings comparable to an Iczer!"

"What?" both Iczer One and Argent cried together, when all Hell broke loose and systems began failing and crashing all around the medical center...

Argent did not have any clear memory of what happened next, other than the shock of seeing Iczer One shatter her regenerator capsule, hauling Argent away while people were shouting and making such a loud hubbub about the Main Relays of the Central Database, something about a Core Breach and catastrophic system failure.

She only regained some sense of herself when she found that she was floating once again in the belly of their Iczer Robo. Almost she would have believed the whole of her previous recent memories had been the product of a bad dream-no, make that a nightmare-but the pain in her arm persisted and made her very much aware that it had all happened exactly as she so uncertainly remembered!

"What...?" she gasped, seeing Gomorrah City looming large all about them, with fires everywhere and much evidence suggesting that they had been under attack by some hostile power.

"Conserve your strength, Argent," Iczer One replied, "There's been an emergency...the Great Relay system has been somehow infected with a renegade Virus. It somehow got loose from that node we found and took over the entire Medical complex."

"That node did this?" Argent felt sickened and appalled at the concept.

"Apparently there was something inside the node that is hostile to all life forms," Iczer One replied, "It infected the core and has become sentient and aggressive, taking over many systems and turning them against the C'thuwulf..."

"Like what happened to that outpost!" Agent gasped, "But...how did it escape containment?"

"Apparently they underestimated its resourcefulness, but we will not," Iczer One replied, "We must destroy the core to halt the spread of the infection. That is what they must have tried to do on the outpost when it behaved similarly with their main systems."

"Destroy the core?" Argent said in dismay, "But...if you do that...!"

"I know," Iczer One replied grimly, "But it is either that or allow the Virus to take over the home planet! If it gets to the external relay net it could very well spread itself to outlying systems!"

"Do we have authorization to do this?" Argent asked, "Without the Core...Main Central..."

"The world computer will shut down," Iczer One concluded for her, "But that is preferable to the alternative, and machines must never come first before our people!"

Argent marveled at that extraordinary assertion of humanity, and coming from a Bioroid of all beings! She was forced to reconsider a substantial portion of what she had come to assume about the Iczer, but as she tried to absorb this she saw the Main Computer Complex Housing of Central loom before them, and then there was little time to think as Iczer One charged herself up and generated a fierce Iczerio shield around their Unit, even as Central began to unleash defensive countermeasures in an attempt to stop them.

"They're firing everything they have against us!" Argent exclaimed in dismay as she read the massive power readings from the countermeasures.

"The virus has taken over the system," Iczer One replied, "But their cumulative firepower is nothing next to us! Be ready, Argent, they are about to witness the full fury of an Iczer Robo!"

Argent instinctively flinched as she felt massive energy discharged resonating against their shielding, but Iczer One plunged on relentlessly through this Hell and into the very side of the reinforced armor of the Central Complex itself, emerging unscathed on the inside walls that served to protect this branch of the main computer, where upon they dealt with secondary defenses while aiming for the Core itself, effectively ignoring tertiary countermeasures.

"This is it!" Iczer One declared, "Get ready, Argent! I need full power to destroy this-!"

All at once the Core itself came alive, shooting out tendrils that were much like the ones which had snared Argent's Enviro-suit, affixing like an adhesive substance to the surface of the Iczer Robo before attempting to infect it and take it over, as it had done to the rest of the complex.

"NO!" Iczer One cried, "I won't let you-stop it! Stay out-!"

Within an instant of perfect crystal clarity, Argent suddenly understood what the infection was and why it had affected her, as well as their Biorganic technology, the way it had. Some life form had created a Virus that was tailored to infect and commandeer the very essence of what made C'thuwulf technology so unique in the galaxy, and this fiendish substance was attempting to do the same thing to her partner that it had done to her own right arm, which was flaring now with the pain of increasing infection.

"HEY YOU!" she cried out instinctively, emotion boiling over within her as her mind opened up to a clarity that she had never before possessed, "YOU KEEP YOUR FILTHY TENTACLES OFF OF MY PARTNER!"

"Argent?" Iczer One gasped, when suddenly she felt power flow through her armor, overwhelming even the infection and thus arresting its further development. Such power filled the entire Iczer Robo with overwhelming intensity, stretching out to engulf the tendrils themselves and wend their way back into the Core itself, detonating the Plasgel material that it was composed of and triggering off a massive explosion.

Argent felt the blast rattle her teeth even inside her liquid environment, and she knew at once that the Core had been breached entirely, which would in turn trigger an even greater explosion at any minute. With her mind she reached out to Iczer One and willed the Bioroid to teleport out of there, catching even Iczer One by surprise as she had not expected their mental link could work both ways like that. Suddenly the Bioroid found herself several miles hovering in mid-air above the dome surrounding New Gomorrah, and as she stared down with horrified eyes she watched the cascading effect of plasma discharges ring all around the now-doomed city as the core itself achieved meltdown status.

"ARGENT-NO!" she cried.

"It's better this way," she heard the mental response come through clearly, "You're not infected like me...you can live and grow stronger...I know it."

"I can't live without you!" Iczer One pleaded, "Don't do this!"

"You sound just like Aura," Argent remarked almost wistfully before adding, "My love...I'm coming to join you..."

And then the explosion cut her off as a portion of Gomorrah city went up like a small supernova...

She had wept for days, it seemed, the tears just coming even though her creators had insisted that her eyes should not have watered up in this way. Iczer One now stood to attention, her tears burning her eyes though she tried to remain impassive. The hearing had been convened to determine her fate...but not just her fate, but the destiny of the C'thuwulf race itself, which now stood on the brink of extinction due directly to her actions.

"This is extraordinary," one of the tribunal members declared, "This unit participated in events leading to the destruction of our capitol city, to say nothing of the hundreds of thousands of lives that were lost when the Core exploded!"

"And not just that," another member of the convening panel replied, "The loss of the Central relays has caused a catastrophic series of failures to resonate all across the home planet! The Environmental control stations have all shut down...we could be talking about an ecological catastrophe that has not been seen in our living memories!"

"Even worse," the third panel member agreed, "Parts of that virus got transmitted out to some of our colony worlds...they, too, are reporting massive system failures and an unbelievable amount of destruction all across the board, from Life Systems to Defensive Support. Entire cities have become unlivable Hell for those citizens remaining there...and I don't even need to remind you that with our defensive borders down, we remain vulnerable to any hostile power which seeks to take advantage of this crisis."

"We could be talking about the death of our Civilization and race," the first turned her wrath back on Iczer One, "And all because this Unit failed to halt the infection and instead wound up destroying our main central!"

Iczer One remained impassive while they debated her fate, not caring if they ordered her to be scrapped and salvaged as biological waste matter. With Argent's death a part of herself had died as well, a part that had only just begun to come alive, and who knew if that part would ever live again? Not unless she found another partner who could match Argent's biosigniture...and there were no existing files to research to determine if there was such a match among the survivors!

"My Lords," said Councilor Gold in Iczer One's defense, "This Bioroid fought bravely and with determination in an effort to save Gomorrah, and you cannot make light of her sacrifice simply because the results were so catastrophic. Iczer One has lost her partner due to the valiant self-sacrifice of Lieutenant Commander Argent...will you invalidate the nobility of her final wish to spare the life of her partner? I am telling you that it was through no fault of Iczer One that any of this happened."

"Then what did happen...and whose fault was it?" demanded the main Tribunal member, an elder Matron named Amber, who was-in point of fact-Councilor Gold's biological mother.

"No one living, I assure you," Gold replied, "But I did conduct some tests on the fragmentary data that we were able to retrieve and have confirmed that the node contained an infection designed to overwhelm biotechnology, such as we employ. It's creators, I suspect, are long since dead, but my suspicion is that they were Rakshas, ancient enemies of the C'thuwulf believed to be extinct for many hundreds of generations."

"Rakshas?" Tribunal Member Ivory said in aversion, "The Demon Beasts of legend? But...we extinguished them from this part of the galaxy...!"

"But they may have left artifacts and traces of themselves behind as a legacy to spite us," Gold replied, "It is certainly well within the capabilities of their technology to create a Virus as pernicious as this, and they learned from their forebears to be cunning and duplicitous. Perhaps the artifact that was found at our Outpost satellite, was left there many generations ago in the hopes that it would one day be discovered and cause exactly the sort of mischief that we have seen happen."

"Incredible," said Tribunal member Jade, "If what you say is true...they we have fallen prey to the after effects of an enemy we thought long dead...a paranoid, Xenomorphic life form intent on cursing us from beyond the grave...and we fell into their trap like stumbling infants!"

"So you see, it is wrong to blame the messenger for the message," Gold resumed, "And holding Iczer One responsible for the loss of Gomorrah is as pointless as accusing her of creating the virus!"

"Your point is well taken, Councilor," Jade remarked, "But what of the Virus itself? Did the blast destroy its integrity, or...can it still cause further infection?""

"Unknown at this time," Gold said reluctantly, "However...we have also discovered that the Virus stole one of our templates and was in the process of creating for itself an Avatar patterned after the Iczer construct model. No sign of the Avatar was discovered among the ruins of the medical center...and we believe its embryonic stage was ejected into space and might still exist, waiting to gestate into its fully adult stage."

"Whose template was used to create this?" Ivory asked.

Gold paused for a few seconds before answering, "It used...my bio-pattern...my genetics were employed to fashion the template for a new kind of Iczer."

"You are saying that we may be faced with another potential Iczer...only one that may be infected with the Virus?" Jade replied, "That's...utterly appalling!"

"It is worse than that, far worse," Gold responded, "The embryo may contain the records of our Central Core itself, and with that vast array of knowledge, who knows to what evil purpose it may be applied? This is not just a rogue Iczer we may be dealing with here, it is an evil Avatar of our destroyed Central Computers!"

"If such a thing were to fall into the hands of an enemy power, it could spell total disaster," Amber replied, "We must take what countermeasures we are able to safeguard against this Virus...therefore we have no choice but to recommission Iczer One and invest her with the task of finding and destroying that Avatar."

"But her Iczer Robo was destroyed in that last encounter," Jade pointed out.

"So?" Ivory countered, "We will build her another one, an Alpha unit that is worthy of taking on this enemy Iczer."

Iczer One almost gasped in surprise at this, having resigned herself to a very different kind of fate, only to be handed a reprieve that sounded as much like a chance for possible redemption!

"With all due respects," Gold replied, "That could prove more difficult than you imagine...but it may be that the Avatar will need to find a place where it can complete its generation cycle. At present it is not mature, but should it come fully on line...there is no way of projecting the measure of its full potential."

"Then Iczer One will resume her regular duties as our Protector...until such time as a new class of warriors can be created to defend what is left of our system," Ivory nodded to her fellow Tribune members and received their tacit confirmation before continuing, "But in the meantime...there is still the matter of what can be done to salvage our culture from the destruction of our central relay net. We are vulnerable now and many of our largest cities are dying a slow death from the loss of power and control over our resources. Unless we can repair those relays and recreate our Central computer...we could be facing total disaster."

"Already our citizens are frightened and confused over the suddenness with which these events have happened," Jade remarked, "Somehow we must restore confidence and stability before they begin to panic."

"Honored Tribune members," Gold said simply, "Such concerns are for the surviving members of the Spectrum Council to decide, but I believe that matters may be far worse even than you imagine, that this disaster is far more widespread than even we know...communication between our outlying colony worlds has been disrupted, we have no accurate reports as to the extent of the damages many have already endured. In short, it appears that we may need to undertake drastic measures in order to save what we can of our civilization..."

"Indeed?" Ivory asked, "What then do you propose...?"

"Muku-chan?"

"Huh?" Muku asked as her mind came out of the fog of memories, emerging back into a reality very different from the council chamber...

"Muku-chan, are you all right? Speak to me?"

"W-what?" Muku gasped, wondering why it had gotten so dark all of a sudden. She could see Rhea's face hovering only a short distance above her and for a moment wondered why that was...but then she made out more details of their surrounding and found-to her horror-that they were buried underneath a weight of concrete and metal constituting many tons, all of which was presently being supported across the slender back of Rhea Kano. The Bioroid's arms were placed to either side of Muku's head as the other girl straddled her, and the strain that Rhea was carrying was quite telling. Rhea grunted a little as she shifted some of the weight, but otherwise did not appear to be hurt for all that she had taken the worst of the collapse in shielding Muku.

"Muku-chan...are you all right?" Rhea repeated through tightly clenched teeth.

"What...happened?" Muku asked, her memories clouded by thoughts of the C'thuwulf and Rhea's mother.

"Thank the mother!" Rhea almost sagged with relief before some dust and debris fell from her back, reminding her that this would be a very bad thing, "I was afraid you had a concussion or were in a coma from the way you would not respond to me. I have been trying to reawaken you ever since Nova's new Robo toppled the roof down around our heads."

"I...remember," Muku slowly responded, then studied the strain in Rhea's face and asked, "But are you all right? You must have hurt yourself...that stuff on top of you..."

"I'm fine," Rhea grunted, "But...I think I may need your assistance...to free us both from this rubble..."

"W-What do you want me to do?" Muku asked.

"Link energies with me," Rhea replied, "I am going to attempt to repel this mass from my body...to cancel out its mass and inertia, much as I do when I levitate...but your energy must be linked with mine to be truly effective..."

"How do I do that?" Muku asked.

"Lay your hands on my body," Rhea instructed.

Muku reached up with her hands and automatically groped the nearest part of Rhea that she could find, which turned out to be a lot softer, rounder and firmer than she would have expected, which also brought a mutual gasp from both of their lips, hers from surprise, Rhea's from the contact.

"Ooops," Muku said sheepishly, "Ah...I didn't mean to..."

"That is...just fine," Rhea replied, "You surprised me, that's all. Now...make eye contact with me and let our rapport do the rest. The process of Synchronization...will be fairly automatic..."

"Ah..." Muku looked deep into the luminous eyes of her companion, all too aware of where her hands were currently placed, and...for a moment...lost herself within their depths. She did indeed feel as if a portion of her own life essence was extending upward into Rhea, strengthening the young Iczer as her body converted the energy into raw might, and the look of strain began to leave the elvish girl's exotic features. Muku also became aware of how Rhea's hair began to fall loose onto Muku's face, tickling her slightly though she managed to maintain eye contact and felt their spirits begin to merge in a way that was entirely instinctive...

Then, quite by surprise, the mass was lifted off of Rhea's back by another pair of hands, ones which easily hefted the many tons of plaster, cement and metal as though it were made of cardboard, revealing the rather striking form of the black-and-gold clad Nova, the Cherry-red haired Iczer responsible for their being in this mess in the first place.

"Here they are, I found them, just like I said I would," Nova remarked cheerfully to someone who was standing close beside her.

"Are they all right?" asked the familiar voice of Yui, who hastily employed her own inhuman strength to the effort of pushing away the rubble, "Muku better not be hurt or I'll...!"

Yui paused as she got a good look at the pair whom she had just helped to rescue, most specifically Muku, whose hands were presently pushing up against the chest of the fiery-gold haired Rhea. Their placement was not only suspicious, it was downright incriminating.

"Ah..." Muku traced the line of her friend's eyes and saw what was causing Yui so much consternation. The realization that she was fondling the Iczer caused her to blanche slightly and hastily stammer, "This...isn't what it looks like...honest!"

"You...!" Yui turned an accusing glare at the much-surprised Rhea, who wondered just what it was that upsetting the Senshi until she glanced down and became cognizant of how the placement of Muku's hands might appear under the circumstances. She hastily sat up and ceased straddling Muku, instead getting to her feet while offering her partner a hand so that they were both clear of the rubble, which Nova then deposited back in place.

"Ah...allow me to explain..." Rhea hastily stammered.

"Hey, what's to explain?" Nova asked with a particularly lewd expression, "Looks like you two were having some fun down there...sorry if we broke up your party, but Yu-chan here was pretty upset when she thought we'd accidentally killed you."

"Yu-chan," Muku repeated with an arched eyebrow and was rewarded with the sight of Yui suddenly blushing crimson.

"Nova," Rhea turned to her rival Iczer, "Why did you just save us? I thought your purpose was to destroy us Iczers..."

"Hey, Destroy may be grandma's idea, but I got other intentions, know what I'm saying?" Nova's leer was particularly suggestive, and this time it was Rhea's turn to look back with uncomprehending confusion, "I'll be satisfied just whipping your ass in an honest, straight on fight, you and me, our partners and both of our two Iczers. So, what do you say, Cousin? Wanna settle this in a real knock-down, all-out fight, Woman-to-Woman?"

Rhea glanced up at the looming shadow of Nova's Iczer Robo, then at Rhea, and lastly at Yui before repeating the word, "Partners?"

"Yeah," Nova replied, "You got a problem with that?"

"Hey, wait a minute here!" Muku started to recover, "Yui's my friend...so where do you get off calling her your partner?"

"Since I kidnapped her fair and square," Nova folded her arms under her chest, "Wanna make something of it?"

"Wait...you kidnapped her?" Rhea responded, "Nova...you're not supposed to do that! A partner isn't someone whom you can just grab up off the street...!"

"Don't tell me how I should get a partner, Slut!" Nova snapped, "What about you and Miss White Starling there? Did you tell her what you were up to before the first time you snatched her into your Iczer Robo?"

"Well...no...but that's not the same thing!" Rhea insisted.

"Like heck it isn't!" Nova scoffed, "You're no better than me, Miss Goody-Two-  
Tights, and besides, I'm supposed to be the Bad Guy here. I can get away with doing stuff like that because I'm evil!"

"But I cannot believe that you would coerce someone into being your partner," Rhea insisted, "Have you no respect for Yui-san's feelings?"

"Hey, I got a lot of respect for her feelings!" Nova flared back, "She feels just great, take it from me! Besides, you're a fine one to talk about her feelings, flaunting yourself the way you have in front of her cute little girlfriend!"

"I do not flaunt myself in front of her!" Rhea stammered in outrage, "I approached Muku-chan fairly and out of courtesy and respect for her situation..."

"But not for Yui-chan's sake, huh?" Nova growled, "Stealing her best friend right out from under her nose without so much as a by-your-leave...HAH! Some heroine you are!"

"Are you following this?" Muku asked of a bewildered looking Yui.

"I...think so," Yui replied, "But...I'm not sure if that's a good thing..."

"You...how dare you say that to me!" Rhea declared in outrage, "I do not have to take that from someone who destroys public property and threatens the health and safety of innocent people!"

"Yeah?" Nova snarled, "Well...it wasn't like I was aiming to do that! They just got in the way, and how was I to know these humans used such shoddy construction materials? Ripping the roof off this place shouldn't have caused half of it to cave in like that. You ask me, that's the real outrage!"

"You can't shift the blame for what you've done onto them!" Rhea insisted, "How irresponsible! I do not care if you are my half-sister or not, this sort of conduct is unforgivable, outrageous!"

"Yeah?" Nova snorted, "Well, your Mother wears combat goulashes, so how about that?"

"She's your mother too, I'll have you know!" Rhea noted fiercely.

"OH yeah...?" Nova started to bristle, only to pause, blink her eyes and say, "She is?"

"Your mother and mine are one in the same!" Rhea insisted, "We both are the children of Iczers, but our human heritage was born of Kano Nagisa, my other mother's partner!"

"Wait a minute," Nova blinked her eyes, "When did this happen?"

"We ran the tests and confirmed that it is so!" Rhea declared almost in the other girl's face, "Nagisa, my mother, is the human half of your genetic equation!"

"She is?" Nova blinked her large eyes again, "You're kidding!"

"I do not jest about a thing such as that," Rhea declared with a somewhat calmer demeanor, "Though it gives me no great pride to declare this, you are unquestionably both my Cousin and my half-sister! We are both children of the Iczerio, second generation Bioroids, and while your Iczer half came from my Aunt, Iczer Two, your biological human mother is unquestionably Nagisa, just as with me, which means that was truly are sisters, regardless of the differences between us."

"I...didn't know that," Nova replied with a somewhat disquieted expression, "Grandma never told me..."

"She is NOT your Grandmother!" Rhea flared, "That is another lie that she has passed onto you in order to make you a more loyal servant. Big Gold is NOT the mother of Iczer Two...she was born from the genetic material of a woman named Cobalt and fused with the Iczerio, which makes Flight Leader Cobalt your actual grandmother. You are thus part human and owe no true allegiance to that THING who calls herself an Incarnation!"

"Hey, wait a minute," Nova scowled, "How do I know I can trust you and what you're saying? You could be lying to me for all I know..."

"But I am not," Rhea replied, "I do not lie, and you know within your matrix that what I am saying to you is the truth."

"Your truth, you mean," Nova replied, "You'll excuse me if I'd rather check this out with Grandma..."

"She would deny it, if she does not obliterate you where you stand for asking," Rhea sniffed in contempt, "You must know by now that you cannot trust her and what she says to you...for she would say anything to get you to do her bidding."

"Well..." Nova began to scratch her hair with a peculiarly thoughtful expression, "...You may have a point there...I mean, she's evil, so I guess she'd do pretty much whatever she wants. But if I bring you guys in as my prisoners, then it'll all be all right, right?"

"How do you figure that?" Muku asked.

"I don't," Nova shrugged, "But capturing you guys is what I was ordered to do, and I'm sure Grandma will be appreciative of a little peace offering when I ask her whether or not she really is my grandma."

"Capturing us?" Yui asked, "You mean...including me?"

"Well duh," Nova sniffed, "You're my prize catch, Cutie, and I'm sure not letting a fox like you get out of my hands!"

"But will Big Gold allow you to keep her?" Rhea asked.

"Huh?" Nova blinked, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Do you honestly think this Big Gold of yours is going to let you keep Yui for yourself if you bring her home to your place?" Muku clarified for her, "I mean...what are you going to say to her? She followed you home, can you keep her?"

"Uh...well..." Nova seemed confused as she considered the question.

"Most likely Big Gold would demand you turn all of your prisoners over to her," Rhea explained, "And then she will personally destroy us."

"Destroy you?" Nova sniffed, "You wish! No, she'll just use you guys and turn you into her personal slaves, then turn you loose to destroy everybody you care about..."

"Including Yui?" Muku asked.

"Ah...hah?" Nova turned a disquieted look towards her nominal partner.

"Do you honestly think she won't turn me into scrap like some genetic defective?" Yui asked, "I mean...I've heard her talk...she's creepy! I've known Youma with warmer personalities, and they usually take great pleasure in torturing and slaughtering their captives. Do you really mean to turn me over to a bitch like that?"

"Uh...well..." Nova seemed even more confused by the question, and she started to eye Yui with a genuine note of concern in her expression.

All at once the air shimmered somewhat within the ruined arcade, and then they all collectively felt their bodies shift into Subspace, even as an Iczer Robo appeared alongside Nova's dormant Mecha.

"STAND WHERE YOU ARE, YOUNG ONE!" a booming voice rang out, "THIS PARTY IS CRASHED, AND YOU-ARE-GROUNDED!"

"Aunt Two?" Rhea reacted with surprise.

"Whoops, time to get cracking!" Nova yelped as she triggered the automatic recall function of her Mecha, and all at once Yui gave a yelp as a tractor beam scooped her up and started to carry her into the chest capsule, even as Nova vaulted towards the head.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Muku cried out, "Come back here with my friend Yui!"

"Muku-chan," Rhea said, "Let us summon Gamma Theta, we must end this now before anyone else is hurt."

"But Yui..." Muku started to declare when she felt a familiar tingling sensation, "Ohhhh-but-!"

The next thing she knew she was once again breathing the life-preserving artificial fluid of the chest capsule in Rhea's Iczer, which oddly reminded her of the dream she had experienced, of another time and place, and an earlier prototype Iczer Robo.

"Aunt Two," she heard Rhea declare, "There is a civilian on board Nova's Unit!"

"Understood, Niece," Iczer Two replied, "But don't worry...this time we've come prepared to deal with Gold's creations, and no one will be needlessly hurt, not even my daughter."

"Excuse me there, Mom?" Nova replied as her Iczer Robo began to flex its muscles, "You wanna place money on that? This time Grandma's given me a Unit that'll kick butt for real!"

"I have no doubt that your new Unit is far more effective than the last one," Iczer Two replied, "But we've made a few improvements of our own, and now is the time to learn if Sister Grey is truly the genius we believe her to be!"

"In other words, Brat," Sayoko joined in from her capsule, "It's time to get spanked big time!"

"Oh yeah?" Nova's Iczer Robo struck a combat pose and flexed its arms as energy levels began to climb all over the map, "Let's see you back that one up, Step-  
Mom!"

Muku stared at her canopy as her mind seemed to link in with the scanner arrays on board Unit Gamma Theta, and all at once it was as if she could see the aura surrounding Nova's unit flaring up like a small star, even as her Mecha deployed a weapons array that seemed both lethal and formidable, with readings that indicated that it could take out an entire city with one discharge.

But then Rhea started their unit forward, and with a speed that belied the size of their mecha they came up upon Nova's blind side and got in close so that their unit could grapple the enemy mecha from behind.

"HEY-No fair!" Nova protested.

"Fair has little to do with a battle, Little One," Iczer Two declared as she took advantage of the distraction to get in close from the front zone, bypassing the bristling weaponry as she stabbed a hand forward with Unit Beta, seizing Nova's unit by the head while Iczer Beta's other hand slapped palm-first against the enemy unit's chest capsule.

All at once Nova cried out as an energy discharge lanced through her mecha, her cry being joined by Yui, who seemed just as distressed by the sudden surge of bioenergy that flowed from Iczer Beta into their handicapped unit.

Rhea grunted as some of that energy began to spill over into unit Gamma Theta, even as Muku's mind once more expanded, words flowing into her consciousness that had the echo of her recent dream, the voice of the Scientist named Gold going on to explain the plan that she had others had been forming...

"...The homeworld is doomed...our colonies lie in ruins. Our only choice is to find a new home world where we can rebuild our shattered civilization. We will select candidates from among our population, specialists in all fields who can be called upon at need to lay the foundations for a new homeworld. We shall build a ship large enough to house this population and our sisters will sleep in restorative chambers for the long trip to their eventual destination...all save for one who shall remain alert and on duty, who will be conscious and able to maintain life systems for the others. Sister Violet will be the new Mother of All who shall act as both leader and Spiritual head of this expedition. The rest of our people will donate samples of their own Bio-patterns and record their consciousness in the World Ship archives, to be downloaded when the time comes to regenerate their seeds so that they may live again. It might take many cycles for them to find a new world, but when a homeworld is established, the C'thuwulf will once more flourish in peace and prosperity. We will build a better world from the ashes of this one, and like the legendary Cosmic Firebird, we will be born anew. This is our sacred pledge, in the name of our ancestors...and Iczer One shall accompany them as their resident guardian, to patrol the spaceways and keep them safe from harm's way..."

The journey had proved long and hard, but the C'thuwulf had indeed prevailed, only to be assaulted once again by the legacy of that wicked virus! The outrageousness and injustice of that thought propelled Muku to anger as she fought against the strain of her borrowed memories, not knowing where they came from but understanding that the had been given insight into the nature of the C'thuwulf and their holy struggle for survival.

Big Gold was the enemy, the foe of all life, who had perverted the sacred cause of an entire people, spreading the hate of the long-dead Paranoid race and their monstrous descendants, of whom the Venomoids were only the latest incarnation. A war that should have ended a thousand generations ago was echoing in the present, an endless waltz in an eternal cycle that played itself out over and over for as long as the hate itself endured.

With that thought in mind she extended her own considerable energies to reinforce Rhea's efforts, and together they managed to contain Nova's futile efforts at freeing herself as Iczer Two unleashed the Anti-Virus program into the enemy Iczer Robo, causing Nova to stiffen as her senses flared all across the board, and then she blissfully passed out, leaving a slightly stunned Yui to experience the backwash of emotion which flooded through her companion-pilot.

Then the enemy Iczer Robo shut down, going dormant all of a sudden as Yui swam in a sea of disorienting sensations, unhurt but badly shaken.

"Yui-chan!" Muku called out as she felt all other energy levels subside to normal levels, "Yui-chan, are you all right?"

"Ah...I...feel..." Yui stammered the words, then she too passed into unconsciousness.

"Mission accomplished," Iczer Two remarked, "The enemy unit has been contained, all systems read normal. We've captured her with no loss of life and only a minimum of collateral damage. Good work, Rhea-chan...that was excellent teamwork."

"Thank you, Auntie," Rhea replied, "Will Muku-chan's friend be all right?"

"Once we get her out of there where our Med Techs can check her over," Sayoko replied, "Along with Junior here...I don't envy her the headache she'll probably have when she recovers."

"I will see to it that special care is given to my daughter," Iczer Two replied, "None of this is truly her fault...she is an innocent victim of Gold's evil. I look forward to the day when we can talk like a true mother and daughter should...assuming that she will ever be able to forgive me for the cure I have just given to her."

"That all depends on whether she was really all that innocent or not," Sayoko reminded, "You ask me, she came across like a real Nutter."

"Time will tell on that, Aunt Sayoko," Rhea replied, "But now I know for certain that she is my sister...I felt a connection with her just now...a bond that marks us both as children of the Iczerio."

"I just hope Yui-chan won't suffer any from all of this," Muku replied, "She's the real innocent here...she's never done anything to deserve this. I...I'll need to contact her friends...Yumi and the others, they'll want to know that she's all right."

"Of course," Iczer Two replied, "Every consideration will be extended to bringing an end to this crisis. With a bit of rest in a regenerator, though, your friend should be back to normal."

"I hope you are right about that, Auntie," Rhea replied, "But...she has been united with an Iczer, which means that her life will never truly be the same ever again."

"Tell me about it," Muku murmured to herself, but then smiled as she sensed Rhea's questioning thoughts directed towards her, "Forget about it, Honey...let's just go home...to your place."

"Your wish is my fondest desire, Muku-chan," Rhea replied, somewhat reassured as she triggered the recall signal, which drew unit Gamma Theta back to its home cradle at Gomorrah base, home once more at C'thuwulf Command Central...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/C'thuwulf Cat-Fights: shadowmane

With Nova and Atros now effectively neutralized, does this mean that Big Gold is running out of champions to fight for her cause? Dream on, McDuff! And meanwhile, as the enemy plot their next big nefarious scheme, Muku and Rhea draw closer together while Sakura and Yui have it out about this "Partner" business! Be here next time when Troi, Nova and Rhea explore the depths of partner relationships in, "Partners Wars," or "The Three Amigas!" Be there!

X -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	29. Chapter 29

Earthchild29

The Earthchild

(A Ranma/Sailor Moon/Iczer Crossover)

by Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi,  
Toshihiro Hirano, Naoko Takeuchi, Hitoshi Okuda,  
TH Tiger and Johannes Huber, along with many Others)

Chapter Twenty-Nine.

Tofu Ken was not a happy camper. Discovering that his website had not only been hacked but that substantial portions had been edited and outright deleted disturbed him deeply, especially for the great ease in which it had been managed. His picture files-those that had been kept online-had been replaced with a single file that bore the cartoony image of the alien girl known as Troi, who was sticking her tongue out at him in a rather expressive manner (and-given the distortion of the superdeformed image-he had to allow it was a pretty good likeness), and all because he had done **something** or other to get on her bad side.

Just like the meddlesome alien girl, too, she was nowhere on hand for him to chew out about the matter. Come to think of it, he hadn't seen Sakura anywhere either since classes, and wouldn't it be just like those two to be off doing something (the imagination boggled at the prospects) without him?

It was not-most emphatically NOT-that he was jealous or anything (he would have dutifully insisted), but he was starting to get a wee bit annoyed about the silver-haired C'thuwulf and the intrusive way that she had insinuated herself into both of their lives...Sakura's as much as his own. What in the name of the almighty Yen note was she intending, roping his fianc e into something potentially dangerous without even seeking his approval? That she was somehow involved with Sakura on a more-than-personal level, and it was not just for kinky sex reasons either (he was reasonably assured) was reasonably apparent, but the actual nature of what their so-called 'Partnership' involved still lacked a few pertinent details...and Ken had his suspicions about that. In fact, doing a little research, he had begun to uncover some disturbing hints of what the nature of their business might be, and he was not liking the implications...no, certainly not indeed!

Ken frowned as he wondered about his own feelings in this matter. He and Sakura had been engaged for most of their lives, an arrangement that was insisted upon by their mutual grandfathers, a matter of 'family honor' that could not be breached if the families of Saotome and Tendo were to at long last be united. Originally that obligation had belonged to Sakura's father and one of Ken's Aunts, but with the dissolution of the original marriage pact, the promise had been given that the children of the next generation would be the ones to fulfill that promise. Of course no one had thought to ask Ken and Sakura what they thought about the matter, so from childhood on they had resolved to "play along" with the engagement while quietly seeking to dissolve it on their own...and now, it seemed, Sakura had found the perfect method for seeking that dissolution...

Only...did they want to dissolve their engagement? Troi had spoken as if the option of a three-way relationship was possible...but was that also what he wanted? To share his future wife with another woman, and one who looked to be a real handful of trouble for any style of relationship...that was something else which needed thinking about. Ken was not even certain how he felt about Sakura after all of these years of knowing her...they were just too used to being around one another, even if their actual relationship varied from affectionate to antagonistic with no clear regularity, at least they had become secure in the knowledge that each one would exist somewhere in the orbit of the other.

And what did he know about this Troi character anyway? She was clearly very strong, could fly and teleport and appeared to be at least partially non-  
human...how far he would have to further inquire to determine. She called her self a "Bioroid," some kind of mechanical construct? Now...that didn't seem quite right. She was much too human in her behavior for him to think of her as something artificial. She was lively, energetic and clearly as full of herself as many people tended to claim that Ken himself could be, and yet there was something about her that fit like a groove into Sakura's own personality. He could not quite say why it seemed that they did suit each other, but they did, and Ken had a very strong feeling that a package that included one would not be complete now without the inclusion of the other...

Think of the devil and she would appear, or so Ken thought next when he heard a now-familiar voice say, "You too busy playing with your mouse there, Camera-  
Boy?"

Ken should have jumped in astonishment at being surprised in such a manner, but instead he kept his back rigid as he replied, "You know...teleporting into somebody's bedroom would be considered offensive if a guy did it to a woman..."

"Yeah, so what's the problem?" Troi replied, "You're a guy, I jumped in on you...now do you want to see Sakura or not? I got approval to bring you in, so it's time you learned the full story about what I'm about, Lenny boy."

"Ken," he corrected, but declined to take the bait by making a point about it as he turned around to see the silver-haired warrior-elf, "So...when do we go?"

"How about right now?" she smiled, extending her hand in an almost friendly manner.

With some reluctance, Ken took the handshake, then felt a curious sense of transition. The next thing he knew he was sitting down on the floor, his rump landing on something hard, smooth and clearly artificial as his familiar bedroom was replaced by more ultra-tech surroundings.

"Welcome to New Gamora," Troi smirked down at him, then nodded her head towards the source of the lighting, "Have a look...this is home-sweet-home for my people."

Ken turned to see what she was indicating and froze in amazement, seeing a cityscape unfolding before his eyes unlike any other that he had ever even heard about outside of an Anime. It was beautiful in a curiously unearthly sort of way, and as he slowly rose back to his feet what he felt was almost like stepping onto the surface of an entirely different planet. It was uncanny in a way, and the abruptness of the transition left him feeling almost breathless.

"Where...?" he heard himself asking.

"You're underneath an area near to Tokyo," Troi replied, "In an artificial pocket given to the C'thuwulf on an agreement with your own government. We're kind of like your invisible neighbors, a colony established as a new homeland for our people while we assimilate ourselves into normal society. You're one of only a handful of outsiders that have been allowed in, Kid, and that's mainly because you're as involved in this as Sakura and the others."

"The others?" Ken blinked.

"Your girlfriends," Troi made a face, "And that's another thing...right now you're the only man in this entire complex, so behave yourself and don't make me look bad for bringing you here or I'm gonna have to hurt you, got it?"

"The only...man?" Ken wondered if the Bioroid was pulling his leg or if she really did mean that he was the only masculine humanoid in a city full of women?

"All done here, Troi," a strange woman standing behind some type of console said, "He's clean. No problems bringing him here on a regular basis now...we've logged his biosignature into the central matrix."

"My what?" Ken asked, mentally correcting himself...beautiful and sexy women, if that lady in particular was any indication!

"Biosignature," Troi replied, patting him on the shoulder, "Never mind, you'll get the full briefing later. Now...follow me this way to the labs, that's where Sakura-chan and her friends are gathered, along with...some other guests we have staying at the place. Come this way and I'll fill you in...and trust me, you're in for quite a few surprises..."

"Hey, come on guys, let me out! I promise I won't do anything bad, honest!"

"Oh, give it a rest," Atros complained of her current (and most reluctant) cellmate, "It's for your own good, you know. They have to make sure that you won't carry any hidden virus programs into the C'thuwulf complex, and after all the trouble they went through to certify that I would remain clean, I can't hold it against them that they're not taking any chances."

"That's easy for you to say," Nova frowned as she stared from her partitioned chamber to her fellow Bioroid being held in the adjoining chamber, "You've been here-what-a whole day already, but I just got dragged down here against my will, and unlike you, SIS, I'm being denied access to my new partner!"

Yui flinched as she heard this pronouncement, but she could neither deny nor avoid the implications of this particular revelation, especially not with her friends looking on with collectively astonished expressions, Rini no less so than any of the others.

"You mean...you...and her...?" her pink-haired fellow Senshi pointed at Nova and then back at Yui.

"Don't remind me," Yui half-pleaded.

"Well now," Yumi slowly grinned, "Getting yourself a new girlfriend on the sly...I didn't give you way near enough credit, Yui-chan, you're turning into quite the rake here."

"Jealous, Yumi-chan?" asked Reiko.

"Had your eyes on Yui-chan yourself, have you?" added her twin, Meiko.

"If it's all the same," Karma added, "You might have been better off because this...Bioroid here looks and sounds as though she will be more than a handful."

"Look, I didn't ask for this, Guys!" Yui protested, "I'm the victim here, I was kidnapped and hauled into that...thing...and everything that happened to me from that point on was none of my fault! Honest!"

"Sounds like a familiar refrain," Sakura noted from where she was idly lounging at one corner of the lab complex, "I think I've heard the tune somewhere before..."

"Yui-chan," Nova's voice brought everyone around, "I'd never do anything to hurt you...you've gotta know that. I didn't mean for it to get a little wild back there, I was..."

"Just following orders?" Atros sniffed, "Welcome to the club...of course you didn't almost blow up most of Japan like I nearly did, but I'm sure that everyone understands that you were just doing a job trying to destroy sister Rhea and her partner, Senzenen."

"Hey, I thought that grandmother was just gonna, like...take them captive, brainwash them, recruit them to our side, you know what I mean?" Nova asked.

"And you call that an improvement?" Karma asked softly.

"Well...no..." Nova shrugged, "But Almost only counts with Nukes and Iczer-  
Robos, right?"

"Meaning...what exactly?" Rini blinked.

"I dunno, you figure it out!" Nova shrugged, "I just...I'm going a little nuts in here! C'mon, let me out, will you? I promise to behave? I just wanna spend time with Yui-chan...getting to know her better, know what I mean?"

"Unfortunately I do," Sister Grey spoke up, "Whatever technology Big Gold used to Synchronize your biorhythms to those of Yui here, it's had a permanent affect of altering both your bioreadings so that you now have a strong psychic and biophysical link together. I'm afraid, in technical terms, that you are now Partnered together permanently, which means a long separation between you two is simply not an option."

"WHAT?" Yui blurted out, "You mean-can't you do anything about that?"

"Yui-chan," Nova winced, "I'm hurt..."

"You stay out of this!" Yui snapped, turning back to Sister Grey, "I can't be stuck with her for the rest of my life! What would I tell my parents? They're gonna ground me for life as it is, and if I come back home bringing a new **girlfriend**..."

"How exactly do you ground a Hibiki?" Yumi asked, enduring a withering look from her fellow Second-Generation Senshi.

"They'll improvise!" Yui snarled, "How do you think Mom keeps Dad at home for anything longer than a weekday?"

"I have been wondering about that," Meiko remarked.

"So have I," Reiko agreed, "The mind fairly boggles..."

All at once Atros got a funny look in her eyes, and she glanced sharply to the side as though sensing something not readily apparent to the others.

"Whoah!" Sister Foam spoke up in surprise, "We got a spike here in Atros's biorhythms...funny...it just cropped up out of no where and..."

"Hey everybody," Troi announced matter-of-factly, teleporting in with Ken at her side, "Look who I brought with me."

"Ken?" Sakura straightened up, "What are you doing here?"

"That's what I'd like to know," Ken glanced around at the laboratory, then nodded to the familiar faces of the Senshi, who smiled and waved back, "Some place you've got here...looks fairly ultra-modern..."

"It's at least several thousand years ahead of anything you Earth guys have been able to come up with so far," Troi boasted, "Biotechnology, like what's used to create us Iczers, and there we have our latest recruits to the family. Say hello to Nova and my daughter, Atros, half-sisters by way of my good friend, Nagisa, their other biological parent. Guys...Ken Tofu."

"Tofu Ken," he corrected, surprised that the Bioroid had even gotten that much right...but then his focus was distracted as he felt a curious sensation that drew him to study one of the two elf-like women currently sitting in matching booths, like Zoo animals on display. He had the oddest...feeling...

No, scratch that...the dark haired one was looking right at him, and her eyes were (if possible) twice as large as the others...

"Oh dear," said Foam.

"What is it?" Grey asked.

"We have Synchronization in progress," Foam replied, "Someone in this room is bonding with Atros."

"WHAT?" Troi whirled around, "With MY kid, WHO?"

"Attempting to narrow it down here," reported Salmon, one of the technicians on duty, "We have a definite match, a bioscan that's within a 99.7% compatibility rating...it's...I don't believe this!"

"Me neither," Foam replied, checking her consoles, "Running a secondary analysis...yes...it's definitely a match.."

"Confirmed," said Sister Pink, "Synchronization levels are adjusting within parameters...and it's definitely...HIM?"

"HIM?" Troi and several others said at once, including Sakura, all of them turning towards the only man currently present within the chamber.

"Uh...?" Ken was vaguely aware of the focus of their attention in his direction, his gaze having been magnetized by the dark haired elf as...something invisible was passing between them. A moment later it shifted down to normal, allowing him to blink his eyes and turn around before noticing that everyone's attention was suddenly shifted in his direction. "Nani...?"

"Well," Rhea said shyly, "I brought you back to your room like you asked. Quite a day, yes?"

"Uh...yeah...quite a day," Muku replied as she turned to regard her Bioroid partner, "So...what happens next?"

"Well," Rhea sighed, "I'm afraid your friend is going to have to undergo some tests to insure that she hasn't suffered unduly at the hands of Nova or Big Gold..."

"That...isn't what I mean," Muku said somewhat awkwardly, smiling more shyly than before, "I mean...what happens with us...next? I mean...where do we go from here...partner?"

Rhea raised fiery-gold eyebrows at this and seemed to study Muku's face as if attempting to read her mind and expression. When she sensed that Muku was sincere this time she felt a quivering excitement come over her, so much so that she hesitantly said, "Ah...well...that is a...very good question..."

"Well, um..." Muku shifted her balance and looked nervously around at the familiar surroundings of her room before saying, "I...kind of hoped you'd have some idea...I mean...you know more about this sort of thing, right? Ah...about...stuff?"

"Stuff?" Rhea repeated, "Er...well...yes, I do...I have been trained and programmed with many techniques but...I'm...somewhat lacking in the hands-on training part..."

"Hands...on?" Muku said nervously, "Er...mind if I sit down?"

Rhea just smiled at her and laced her fingers in Muku's own, then the two of them sat down together on the latter's bed, still shy as they studied each others faces, Rhea searching for sincerity, for a sense of commitment on the side of her partner. She could sense that Muku was still uncertain about this, but that she was now open to exploring the possibility, and Rhea almost dared to hope that she might be able to make a meaningful connection. Going too fast would be a mistake, but...she had been wanting this for so long...

Muku was just bedazzled by the beauty in the eyes that regarded her with such open adoration. Rhea did not hold back on anything, and she had such a vibrant, passionate nature that Muku was a little bit frightened, yet intrigued by the implications. She knew that the Bioroid wanted something more from her than just their level of synchronization, but was Muku really ready for this? It was such a big step in her life...did she dare to take the chance that was being offered?

"Rhea-chan..." she started to say she felt her face being cupped by both hands of the other girl as Rhea held her face steady, her fingers caressing Muku's delicate skin, then all at once she guided Muku forward, unresisting. Muku allowed herself to be steered into bringing their faced almost close enough to touch one another, eyes still locked in a grip like a tractor beam, Rhea searching Muku's soul to decide if this were the moment when she would allow her true passions to finally surface. When Muku did not pull away she thought she had her answer, and so Rhea tipped her face slightly to one side, angling herself so that their noses would not press up against one another, and...

Kissed Muku fully on the mouth, gently-OH-so-gently-their lips melding into one another as a tentative amount of pressure was applied to bring about the required suction. Once firmly latched together, Rhea allowed herself to give her passion fully to the kiss, still gentle and sensitive to the needs of her partner, but warm enough to leave Muku in no doubt of her own sincerity as the both of them yielded to the kiss as it became even more sincere the more emboldened their mutual passions.

Muku had been surprised at the softness of Rhea's lips against her own, but once the kiss was fully underway she began to relax and allow Rhea to guide her into the warmth of their mouths joining to one another. She almost gasped in surprise when she felt gentle pressure being applied to her lips, and then a tongue not her own darted between her teeth, flicking and pressing against her own tongue, which prompted Muku to return the gesture. With a little encouragement on Rhea's behalf, Muku soon found herself in a vigorous "Mouth wrestling" match with tongues gliding like slick Sumo wrestlers meshing together.

With their lips doing such an effective dance together, it was natural that their arms would slide around each others waist so that Rhea and Muku could draw their bodies in close to one another. Muku was dimly aware that Rhea's hands were expertly playing across and caressing the nerve endings down her back, then she felt a touch of surprise as Rhea's hands began to brush the shoulder straps of her clothing, hands that deftly began undressing her as Muku felt a curious thrill pass through her body. Her own hands were somewhat less steady as she began to fumble with Rhea's own clothing, glad that her friend had opted to dress as a civilian instead of don her usual space armor, which meant that Muku had little trouble finding her way to undoing the shirt that Rhea was wearing, even as her own shirt was unbuttoned then discarded as Rhea became more emboldened, her growing ardor demanding that she at last consummate a desire that had been denied for far too long. Rhea was almost in a mood to tear the clothes off of Muku's body, and only holding herself back for the sake of not hastening the moment...and possibly alarming Muku by coming on as too aggressive.

Not that Muku was doing much to curb her own sudden impulse to tear Rhea's clothes off in order to make closer contact with her body!

It was amazing to feel the texture of the Bioroid's flesh, which felt as real and as human ad Rhea tasted, her mouth and saliva being entirely like that of a human. For all the Iczer's tensile strength, her body had all the normal padding and felt as smooth and as sensitive to the touch, and there was no doubting that Rhea could feel her caresses, even as Muku was responding to the way Rhea was moving her hands over Muku's body! Her nerves were stroked to the music of that so-sensitive touch, and when Rhea reached in to squeeze a breast beneath Muku's lacy brazier there was no denying that it felt good! Not at all as clumsy or pawing as Muku might have feared in a different context but very sensual and gentle, not like fruit being pressed in a vice but rather caressed in its own special manner. Muku felt the impulse to try the same thing on Rhea and did so, amazing at how full-yet-how-soft and pliable her bosom was, entirely like that of a natural woman!

In this aroused state, even as Muku began to appreciate the advantage of foreplay with a body that was structurally similar to her own supple body, all of her senses came alive as she took in her full awareness of the fiery-gold haired woman in her arms, no longer feeling the hesitation or doubt that might have come in knowing that she was fondling an artificially created being whose DNA was the combination of an Android and the genetic code of a human. In this state of heightened arousal she heard and felt everything on a level of awareness that she had never known before, and as such she was all the more startled when she heard a knocking on her door, a polite-yet-insistent entreaty that was followed in short order by a concerned voice saying, "Muku-chan? Are you back in there already?"

"Oshit!" Muku declared as she broke contact with a near-intoxicated Rhea, "Uh-  
Mom? Don't come in, please!"

"Huh?" Akane's voice reacted in surprise at the insistence in her daughter's tone, "Muku-chan, are you all right? What are all those funny noises you've been making?"

"Kuso," Muku breathed under her breath, hastily pulling her shirt back up and marveling that one breast had become fully exposed by Rhea's efforts. Her partner snapped out of her own besotted daze and took in the situation, so even as Muku turned to her with a look of warning she saw understanding mirrored in the other girl's eyes, and one moment later she was flowing through the bed and vanishing out of sight as if she had become a ghost before the eyes of her near-  
lover.

A good thing too because Akane-not being the sort who could butt-out when told to-pushed open the door and came fully into the room saying, "Muku-chan...who were you talking to?"

"Talking to, Mom?" Muku asked with false innocence in her expression, having just managed to barely become "decent" in the previous two seconds, "What do you mean?"

Akane glanced around then started to reflexively check under the bed, saying, "Have you been having friends up here without telling us, Muku-chan?"

"Mom, how can you say such a thing?" Muku asked with fingers crossed behind her back, "Do you see anyone here?"

"Hmm..." Akane turned and checked the closet, then went over and inspected the window to make sure the latches were closed from the inside with the security fibers pulsing ever-so-slightly.

"Mom!" Muku was shocked at the implied distrust that her mother was displaying.

"Sorry," Akane turned around, "It's just that you've had us very worried about you for the last few days, Muku-chan. Your father and I were concerned that you may have taken up outside interests which might be interfering with your studies..."

"Really?" Muku tried to maintain her best poker-face, an effect spoiled by some profuse sweating on her part, "What makes you think that?"

Akane looked her daughter in the eyes and said, "Muku-chan...answer me truthfully. Is there some boy whom you're seeing that you don't want us to know about?"

"A boy?" it took a few eyeblinks for Muku's mind to get off the "TILT" button, then she relaxed a bit as she said, "Mom, I can honestly tell you that there is no boy in our school who I'm seeing at the present, Scouts honor."

"You're not a scout," Akane inclined her head with a skeptical expression, then without prompting she sat down on the bed next to Muku (and opposite to where Rhea had been sitting a few moments before her, "Muku-chan, can you explain to me where you've been most of today? We got a report that you've been fighting at school, and there was some mention about giant robots, or some such ridiculous nonsense, but we were told that you were involved with some of your friends at school, and there were these really strange individuals dressed up like refugees from a gangster movie...well...you can imagine what your father and I've been thinking all day. Can you tell us what actually happened?"

"Uh...well," Muku winced, "There...was a fight...some girl from another place tried to cause trouble, but it was at the Arcade, not the school this time, honest. I don't know what you've been hearing, Mom, but everything worked out all right...some strange girl was just intent on kidnapping Yui."

"Ryoga's daughter?" Akane arched an eyebrow, "Was anyone hurt?"

"Um...not really," Muku fibbed, but then she regretted her dishonestly and added, "Part of a roof fell on top of me and my new friend, Rhea, but we managed to survive it..."

"Oh," Akane sighed, "That sort of thing does tend to happen with a Hibiki in the picture...I really must have a word with her parents. I trust you taught that other girl not to try anything like that again?"

"Oh, no problems there, Mom," Muku replied, "She's in a...pretty secure place right now, and I don't think she'll be going anywhere for a while. In fact, it's been such an exciting day that I think I'd like to turn in early..." she made a point of deliberately yawning.

Akane seemed to be studying Muku for a long moment before saying, "Muku-  
chan...you know we trust you, and you can always come to your father and me for advice, right?"

"Uh...yeah," Muku said with an awkward pause that was not intended to convey skepticism on that point, even though she was mentally wincing at the thought of having to try and explain everything that had happened to her mother.

"It may come as a surprise to you to know this," Akane continued, "But it hasn't been so long since I was your age that I've completely forgotten what it feels like to be a young woman with prospects. It really wouldn't surprise me all that much if you've been...touching yourself in any areas that you might otherwise think are...inappropriate."

"Huh?" Muku blinked, not mentally prepared to handle this shift in the direction of their conversation.

"Look, I'm just saying that if you've been...relieving pressure for yourself..." Akane winced slightly at her own awkward turn of phrase, "I understand, really, and it's not such a big deal. I've read in articles that Masturbation is actually quite healthy...something I wish someone had informed me about when I was your age. Touching yourself is a good way to learn about the joys of your own body, and if you can manage to bring yourself off on your own, then I won't do anything to stop or interfere with this, okay? And unlike my own father, I know how to be unobtrusive about such things."

Muku just continued to stare, wondering how she and this other woman could even be related.

"What I'm saying is," Akane tried again, "If you're feeling pressured by certain...unusual urges, then I'm much rather you experimented on yourself instead of trying things out with some strange boy you've just met. I mean, it's a perfectly natural outlet for easing things so you don't feel the urge to do something a lot more risky...do you understand what I'm trying to get at here?"

"No," Muku said honestly, then blinked, "Um...did you say...masturbation?"

"You know," her mother made a surprisingly graphic gesture with three fingers, bringing them down to the crotch of her own slacks and mimicking the act of running them up and down over her hidden clitoris, "Stroking off...feeling yourself up...testing the boundary of your own natural reflexes, that sort of thing?"

"Oh," Muku finally caught on and found herself possessed with strange urge of running her hand over the back of her head while giggling in a nervous manner, "Um...well..."

"Say no more," Akane hastily waved to her, "Just as long as you're not actually sexually active at this point in your life, I don't need to hear the details. I'm just saying that if you WANT to confide in me, then I'm always there to lend you a sympathetic ear. You know that you can trust me to handle everything in a mature and responsible way, right?"

"Ah...well..." this time Muku did effect a typical Yui "scratch your head and titter nervously" type gesture (Hibiki patented pending).

"Good," her mother patted Muku on the knee and smiled in a relieved kind of manner, "Then you know you can tell me if you're having any kind of problems. It's all right if you're feeling attracted to someone else, your father and I will still love and support you, just as long as you take the right sort of precautions. Well, that's my motherly advice for now, so...take care of yourself, all right?"

"Uh...sure...no problems," Muku murmured faintly, wondering if this felt as strange to the elder Senzenen lady as it did to Muku. She watched as her mother let herself out of the room, pausing to give what supposedly was meant to be a reassuring smile, then closed the door behind her.

A few seconds later Rhea materialized once again, rising up from the floor like a proverbial ghost and not saying much of anything for several long moments, then turning to Muku and saying, "Your mother means well...do you think that there is something inherent in the genetic background of parents that compels them to act strangely to the thought of their daughters becoming partnered with another?"

"You got me," Muku sighed, "That was definitely weird. Um...about what just happened..."

"Do you wish to take up where we left off?" Rhea asked in a rather hopeful manner, then paused as she read hesitation on Muku's features, "Unless...you would rather not. I understand if the mood is broken...I will not press the issue."

"Thanks," Muku replied, half relief, half-disappointed, "I'm sorry...bad timing and all that. I've got to live here, y'know..."

"I understand," Rhea sighed, "Parents must be respected when it is their property you live under. Perhaps another time, Muku-chan?"

"Uh...sure...I think," Muku replied with some hesitation, only now becoming aware of what she and the Bioroid had been on the verge of doing with one another, which both frightened and fascinated her as she really had no idea how far it could have gotten without that interruption.

"I will see you later then," Rhea hesitated for another moment, then said, "Until then," and vanished altogether.

Muku was left to stare at the empty space vacated by the Iczer for the longest time before she flopped face down on her bed and groaned, "What the heck am I doing...?" not expecting to hear the universe offer her an answer...

Mikado looked up from the book that he had been reading, tempted to voice aloud the observation that his family's house must have been haunted by ghosts, either that or he was seeing apparitions out of the corner of his eyes. One minute he thought he saw a golden-haired half-dressed girl with pointed ears standing in the corridor, then he thought he saw that same girl come floating down from the roof, only to vanish back up through the roof mere moments later. Always she would disappear just before he had time to turn around and fully look at her, as though she were determined to remain a shadow, more an impression of someone who kept coming and going, never fully there, yet-oddly-somehow familiar.

He heard Akane come down the stairs and tried to relax. No sense causing trouble by letting his wife think that he was seeing other women! THAT chapter of his life was firmly closed and nailed shut forever. He had wasted the earliest years of his youth aimlessly searching for his idea and perfect woman, never satisfied with any of those he had dated or kissed, until he met Akane...and that was it for him as far as the female half of the sex went from that day forward. Chasing her had been the hardest battle of his life, but when he had won the fight (through almost losing her, no less!) he knew that it was he whom had been brought to heel. That wayward heart of his had found his perfect woman, and woe betide the man who dared to get on her bad side by making her feel inadequate-as if!

"I talked with her," Akane said, "She didn't exactly confess and open up with me, but that's hardly surprising. I think she's definitely seeing someone, but for some odd reason she doesn't want us to know about it."

"Really?" Mikado set down his book and looked fully at her, "How can you be certain?"

"Because I'm her mother," Akane smiled lopsidedly, "And I can remember when I wore that exact same face around Kasumi. She'd ask me the same thing and I'd give her the same half-uttered non-responses. I didn't really know how I felt about anything in those days, but she knew I was in love with a guy even before I did..."

"Oh really?" Mikado asked mildly, "Any idea who the lucky fellow is?"

Akane jabbed him playfully in the arm (which did hurt a bit, but Mikado was good as stoically ignoring such gestures) and half-smiled, "You know what I mean. At times like this I wasn't any less clueless than Muku is right now, so I can tell she's confused and unsure about things...which might mean that the boy is someone she wants to like but is afraid to love for some strange reason."

"Some boy is trying to take our little White Starling away from us?" Mikado's face clouded, "The nerve of some people..."

"Lecher," Akane smirked, "You're just afraid that some guy out there is going to behave just like you did when you broke the hearts of all those girls..."

"You mean when I married you?" Mikado asked innocently, then smiled, "I very much do remember what I was like when I was Muku-chan's age. Why else do you think I'm worried?"

"I wonder who it could be?" Akane frowned, "How many boys does she know in her class...or is it somebody new, a transfer student maybe?"

"Perhaps," Mikado frowned a bit as he thought over the matter, "I could speak with Hinako-sensei and see if she might have a few ideas on who might be the type to catch the eye of our little Angel. Or perhaps I could ask Muku-chan in a round-about way and see what she's willing to tell me."

"You really think she's going to come clean with you when she won't even confide in her own mother?" Akane sounded skeptical on that subject.

"You forget the Senzenen charm, my dear," Mikado smiled as he affectionately caressed her cheek, "Women have been known to divulge the oddest things when I merely ask them."

"Oh?" Akane asked archly, "And what particular things do they tell you now?"

"That would be telling," he said rakishly, "And the less I confess to the better it will be for my own safety."

Akane picked up his book off the table and made as if she were about to throw it at him, but instead she settled for an affectionate kiss that invited him to give her another, and then another following that as the two of them found other ways to occupy their evening besides discussing the lovelife (suspected or real) of their only daughter, little aware that large elvish eyes were watching them wistfully, Rhea sighing as she thought about the strange attraction between Muku's mother and this curious man whom Muku called her biological father. She turned away to reflect on the matter, then launched herself into the sky, needing the cool air against her skin and face as solace to her loneliness, her longing to be as close as this to the one whom she had pledged herself to as her partner...forever...

"Oh man!" Tenma-doppelganger groaned as he stared forlornly back up at the ceiling, "Again? It's a wonder that I don't have more brothers and sisters..."

He was trying to read a Manga that he had just purchased with his allowance, not really certain why he felt the urge to read the bloody thing. After all, it was just a printed collection of hand-drawn pen-and-ink drawings linked together with some dialogue in order to tell a fairly rudimentary story. He turned another page and got back into the rhythm of the adventure unfolding before him, not really certain why these images generated certain feelings in him that had nothing at all to do with his mission status.

Spying on his "family" had proven to be pretty routine and boring stuff...they hardly knew anything at all about the C'thuwulf besides whatever it was that Troi and Iczer Two had felt like divulging. Tenma had tried to occupy his time by going around town to make further observations for his next report, but after several days of attempting this he'd come to realize that the place was just too weird for rational description. Any report he might make would sound fantastically fabricated in a futile attempt at impressing Big Gold, who would call him an idiot for wasting her time with such nonsense...that is, if she didn't blast the Doppelganger of Saotome Tenma altogether!

And Tenma was really starting to get annoyed at the constant demand for new updates. Did Big Gold simply not get it by now that he had nothing new to report? Sakura was hardly ever home anymore, she was spending more and more time with Troi, and there was no way for Tenma to follow her either into Furinkan high school or the C'thuwulf Earthstation. He had school time of his own to maintain, and he had to keep up the appearance that he really was Tenma, which meant keeping his grade point average to about what Tenma himself would have earned through his own efforts. Making deliberately wrong answers where he sensed Tenma would falter went against his grain as a Bioroid construction, but for the sake of appearances he had to fail in a reasonably believable manner.

And those times when he did get a chance to directly observe Sakura at home were only slightly more annoying and fruitless than not having her around in the first place. His sister was so full of herself some times that she really got on Tenma's nerves, like that time she'd left that exploding okonomiyaki in his locker, paying him back for a little innocent prank that he had played the day before involving some baking soda that he'd laced into her shampoo cream rinse...

No, wait...that was the other-the REAL Tenma-and...did he just think of Sakura as HIS big sister?

This was carrying things WAY too far if he was only planning a simple infiltration job. He was a Doppelganger Simulacrum, a Bioroid designed for duplication of a target human. Assimilating the personality and memories of the target through direct contact should have led to him simply gaining the knowledge and abilities of the real Saotome Tenma, but here he was fretting about homework assignments or that girl in his class who kept looking at him funny. He was not supposed to actually care about these people or their personal interactions, none of it was supposed to have any quantifiable meaning to either Tenma or the objectives of his mission assignment.

Yet he had more than just the memories of Tenma, he had a full understanding of what those memories meant, of time spent with a mother and a father who obviously cared a lot for him and who would go through fire on his behalf, to whom the real Tenma had deep-seated loyalties that went beyond all other considerations. Training missions spent like picnics as a family outing in the wilds where martial arts secrets were imparted from parents to children. Competing against his older sister to try and best her at the games they played to test their abilities, the thrill he felt whenever he actually did something right that earned a smile of approval from his father, the occasional taunts where his Dad would say things like, "You gonna let your sister show you up? C'mon, you're a guy, you ought to be as good as she was at your age," and then the follow-up correctives, "You did your best, that's all anybody could ask, and you did good. I just wish I was as good as you at your age, Kid, so don't sweat it, you'll get better with a little more practice..."

All of that meant something to him...to Tenma...and to his doppelganger. Having his hair be ruffled by the hand of his father, the embarrassment he felt while insisting that he not be treated like a baby, the pride he felt when Sakura did something that brought honor to the Saotome name, and the times when they dropped the sibling rivalry act and actually showed that they cared for one another. Being cradled to sleep at night when it rained with loud and scary thunder, keeping each other company when one or both of their parents were away for a fight or on a mission. They were a family...a family that cared about one another, a family that would go out on a limb for one another, who would take risks to their personal health and safety for one another, who actually cared and suffered if another one of their tight-knit group got hurt. He could even remember feeling resentment when someone tried to hit on his sister without her approval...not like with Ken, of course, whom Sakura liked to play some weird kind of dance with back and forth...

Why did any of this matter to him...and why did he keep thinking about what things were like on the other side of the fence? It hardly bore asking whether Big Gold cared about anyone's welfare beyond her own self, or Neos Gold for that matter, or any of the other minions of his own creator. To them he was just a tin soldier, a simulacrum, an agent easily created and dispensed with when his assignment was ended. He didn't matter at all in the eyes of Gold or any of his fellow servants...and what cause was it exactly that they were fighting for in the first place? To make this world more like the world that existed on the other side of the dimensional boundary, where humans were an all-but extinct species?

These were not the sort of thoughts which he had been designed to contemplate, and every time he thought about Gold's dark plans to annihilate the C'thuwulf and to dominate this world's human populace he kept thinking about Taro Yui, the girl whom he had so recently begun to form a tentative relationship-ah-he meant friendship, of course-and whose welfare had begun to mean something to HIM. Him and not the real Tenma...and...and this was so very confusing. Where exactly were his loyalties headed these days anyway? And what happened to the command protocols in his sub-directory that were supposed to prevent him from having these sorts of feeling...?

All at once his sensors alerted him to a dimensional transference taking place very near to his position...right in the next room, as a matter of fact, meaning that Sakura and her girlfriend had just popped in out of Subspace. Tenma immediately raised the gain on his hearing to levels beyond the normal human threshold and picked up on their conversation as he heard a note of genuine anger in Sakura's voice, as if Troi had done something to seriously upset her.

"...Look, I'm not saying it's your fault, but could you at least give me some warning when you bring my fianc e into a place like that?"

"What are you talking about, Sakura-chan? I thought you knew that he'd been cleared for the lab, and I was just trying to surprise you..."

"Well, you sure succeeded at that! Now what the hell am I supposed to do? Your daughter and my boyfriend just got soul-bonded, like us! Do you know exactly what that makes me feel like?"

"Did you just call Ken your boyfriend?"

"ACK-I did not!"

"Did too."

"Did not!"

"Whatever...look...I know it looks bad...hell, I don't have any idea how something like this is even possible! He's a GUY, for Cosmos-sakes! How the Frel does a guy rate synchronization with my daughter?"

"Yeah, what is that about only girls bonding with you guys anyway? You mean a boy has never been bonded with an Iczer before?"

"Before? There's only six of us now, at least at last count, and two of those were created by the other side! No one's ever even imagined a Man having the characteristics necessary to synchronize with an Iczer, and yet your boyfriend did it on the first try, and to my DAUGHTER of all people!"

"Well, I don't think it was deliberate on Ken's part...but you've got to admit that the timing stinks, and the coincidence is pretty suspicious when you think about it...I mean...what are the odds that you'd bring in the very guy who could bond with Atros like that while she's still under quarantine?"

"What, are you saying I did it deliberately or something?"

"Of course not! You couldn't plan anything that far in advance..."

"Oh, now that hurts, Sakura-chan!"

"I know...I didn't mean it like...and he's NOT by boyfriend..."

"Yeah, I hear you...it's weird, there's no question about that..."

"Well...maybe..."

"Huh? What do you mean maybe?"

"It's just a thought I had...like...maybe the same qualities which make you my partner also exist in him...I mean, after all, he's your fianc e, right?"

"Right, but he's not my boyfriend. So...what are you saying? That this was all somehow fated to happen?"

"I don't know...that would imply predestination, and my Mom would give me a whole earful about that. Big Sister One always said we make our own destiny, but when you have as many amazing coincidences in a row as this...you really start to wonder..."

"I hear what you're saying...so...what am I supposed to do? Your daughter and my fianc e?"

"Yeah...what are the odds, huh? And with a GUY no less..."

"I thought you said you didn't have any problem with guys?"

"I meant that with me...I mean, guys are all right, I suppose, but would you want your daughter partnering up with one? I mean, c'mon!"

Tenma sat upright, realizing that he had just overheard vital information that had to be reported at once to Big Gold, that Atros had somehow been purged of all control programs and was now bonded to a human...to a MAN no less, and none other than that cool guy who had the misfortune of being engaged to his bratty older sister. It was exactly for situations like this that he had been created, and reporting this information was vitally important to the cause...

Right...the cause...what cause? Exactly why was he supposed to report this? It would make his sister and Ken into immediate targets for elimination. That would certainly cripple both Troi and the traitor, Atros, denying them the services of their partners...so why didn't he feel good about that? What was he supposed to do with this information anyway? Transporting over to Gold's realm would be simple, in fact...childsplay...so why was he just sitting there thinking about it?

What exactly did he owe Gold anyway besides his own creation? And why did it matter that he report this right away? What was the hurry anyway, and what did it matter if it was to Gold's advantage to know or not? What would Tenma get out of the whole business other than a curt dismissal and to be devolved back into non-existence?

A moment of crisis had arrived, and the Tenma doppelganger had to think what course to take if he was to plan his way in this world full of humans. Taking Tenma's place had done something, created an obligation in him that went beyond any programmed instructions. A Saotome had to stand by his own, and for better or worse, he was a Saotome...

"Come here...I want to prove to you that I still think you're special, Sakura-  
chan."

"Even in spite of all this?"

"Hey, you think I'd let a little thing like this come between the two of us? We're partners, right? Somehow we'll get through it all, right?"

"I...suppose...but I'm still pretty upset about it..."

"You and me both, but think what they must be going through right now. Your Ken can't have a single clue what's in store for him just yet, and Atros? Maybe she needs somebody even more than him. I just hope they don't expect us to double-  
date from now on, or anything like that..."

"Uh...yeah...heh...that would be kind of weird, huh...?"

"Weird...but in a nice kind of way, heh?"

"Yeah...nice..." and then a sound much softer, like two moist pairs of lips pressing together and creating suction.

"Ew-Gross!" Tenma winced, "Are they kissing in there? Wait until I tell Mom...ummm...maybe not...but they're gonna get in so much trouble doing that..."

The irony of his words were not entirely lost upon him, but little did he know that very soon he would be headed into a crisis far greater than the one he had just surmounted, for-contrary to his own beliefs and expectations on the matter-the REAL Tenma would very shortly be making an unexpected return appearance...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Conscious Deliberations: shadowmane

Tenma does indeed stage a return while Atros and Ken take stock of one another, and Big Gold unleashes her greatest terror ever on the people of Nerima. Be with us next time for: "Fun With Ken and Atros," or, "Two Too many Tenmas Spoil the Okonomiyaki Brew!" Be there!

X

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	30. Chapter 30

Earthchild30

The Earthchild

(A Ranma/Iczer/SM crossover)

by Jim Robert Bader

(Featuring characters and situations created by Rumiko Takahashi, Naoko Takeuchi, Toshihiro Hirano,  
&amp; Hitoshi Okuda, with ideas and suggestions by TH Tiger and Johannes Huber)

Chapter Thirty.

"Here we are, Ten-chan," Fiber told her young ward, "You are home, exactly as I promised."

"Great!" Tenma beamed happily, seeing the familiar exterior of his family's home, restaurant and dojo, "Mom and Dad are gonna be so surprised when they see the neat stuff I can do! Even Sakura'll flip with envy, and all because of you, Aunt Fiber-san."

"Don't credit me, little one," Fiber smiled, "You did most of the work yourself. It is your parents who should be proud of having a son as gifted and as talented as you have proven to be."

"Just the same, as long as I've been gone, I just know they'll be glad to see me again," Tenma remarked, "And I know they'll be pleased to meet you! You think I cook good, you should try the food here. Mom makes the best okonomiyaki on the planet!"

"And I would be pleased to sample some of her wares...but at another time," Fiber said sadly, both vexed and amused at her young ward's enthusiasm.

"Huh?" Tenma looked at the Bioroid in surprise, "What do you mean? Aren't you coming with me?"

"Alas," she said, "I have another piece of urgent business that I must attend to, little one. You will forgive me if I meet with your parents later? This matter is somewhat overdue and must take precedence over less immediate affairs...but I will return to pay my respects to your elders, you may trust my word on this, Ten-chan."

"But..." Tenma hesitated, "I've been away from home for soooo long! What am I gonna tell Mom and Dad when they ask me where I've been? I was hoping maybe you could convince them that I've been training real hard to make them proud of me..."

"You may not have been away for as long as you think," Fiber cautioned, "Time moves differently in subspace than in normal space. For all they know you may have been gone for a matter of hours...or a matter of years, though I've doubtful of the latter case since my own chronometrical readings place this time as a matter of a few days since my sisters and I made our ill-starred attempt upon your family's dojo."

"Oh," Tenma blinked, "You mean...they might not even know I've been gone, huh? Well, that's cool, means I won't have to explain anything, except maybe to say I got lost in another dimension. Pop will buy that...not so sure about Mom, though..."

"Your father is a most unusual man," Fiber noted with some amusement, "It will be an honor when I do finally get the chance to meet with him in person."

"Sure I can't convince you to come in with me for a few minutes?" Tenma pleaded, "I know they're probably sore at you because of that business of you working for the Bad Guys, but you've changed for the better, and I just know I can convince them of that..."

"I fear that words alone will not convince some people that I have amended my ways," Fiber said a bit sadly, "Deeps speak louder than words, so I will have to prove myself before those whom I have wronged will accept me as a changed woman. But I owe it to you, Ten-chan, to have the chance of making right those errors, and so I will be back to vouch for your integrity. I will tell your elders that you are a very worthy young man who would be a credit to any house, to say nothing of having become a first-rate Apprenticed No Puppet Master."

The boy blushed a bit at her praise and said, "I'm gonna keep on working hard at that until I'm good enough for you, Teach. I mean...Sensei..."

"Keep in mind that your powers here will be much less great than they are in Subspace," Fiber cautioned, "You will not find it as easy to conjure up simulations and have them dance to your will as you would in an environment where reality is more amenable to your direction...but you should be able to make use of your immediate surroundings to effect a lesser performance. Just remember...the strength of your belief determines the strength of your projections..."

"Right, got it," Tenma agreed, grinning with typical boyish charm, "Nobody'd better mess with me after this. I'll really show 'em why it ain't smart to mess with a Saotome."

"You do that," Fiber said proudly, watching the young boy head off towards his parents' restaurant before sighing. It was amazing how fond she had become of the child in the time that they had been together. It was almost like being back with her long-dead little brother. She wondered if her own father was smiling down from the great beyond and thinking fond thoughts of the woman his daughter had become, then decided that she had yet one more reason to prove herself a changed and much-improved person.

"Neos Gold...your day is coming," Fiber softly averred under her breath, "What you took from me, I shall take back, I swear it...on the lives of those others whom you betrayed, you will learn why it is not smart to mess with a Weaver."

With that resolve solemnly stated, she warped away through subspace in search of her new destination...

Fives minutes before this...

"So long, Mom, I'm off to school!" another Tenma had called out before heading out the door to catch up with his classmates.

Ukyo smiled indulgently at her son in passing, then softly mused, "Ran off without his lunch again...some days I think that boy takes a little too much after his father..."

Sakura next appeared, descending the stairs one at a time rather than vaulting them, as was her normal practice. She was yawning as she ran her fingers through her half-dried ponytail then listlessly called out, "Hi Mom...is the grill up yet? I could sure use some breakfast..."

Ukyo had to blink twice as she regarded her daughter with frank puzzlement in her own expression. Sakura was usually more lively and energetic than this in the mornings, ever ready to do some sparring with her father, but now she looked as though she had not had a full night's rest, and yet...for some odd reason she seemed to be positively glowing with radiant contentment. It was enough to make any mother immediately perk up her ears with suspicion.

"What's the matter, Sugar?" she asked, "Up late studying for your tests?"

"Huh?" Sakura asked, clearly not at her perceptive best this morning, "Oh...study...uh...right. No worries there, tests aren't until next week anyway...piece of okonomiyaki. I'll ace mine, just like always."

It certainly gratified Ukyo to know that her daughter had so much of her father in her when it came to self-confidence, but it was equally gratifying to know that when it came to study habits, Sakura was definitely her daughter. Unlike Ranma, Sakura always took care to keep her point averages high in all of her regular classes, and she looked to be a real chip off the old block when it came to getting her degree in business and economics. Of course, her academic performance was most decidedly NOT the issue that was of greatest concern here as Ukyo watched Sakura sit down at the counter and proped her chin up on the palms of both hands, a gesture that most definitely belonged to Ranma, especially when it came to moping around on some insoluble problem of a personal nature. It was definitely a Saotome trait, and it implied that her daughter's mind was on something other than her schoolwork.

Knowing better than to sound too intrusive, Ukyo tried to act casual as she asked, "By the way, Ken was looking for you the other day."

"Ken?" there was a blank look in Sakura's eyes, then a familiar frown that turned into a full blown scowl as she responded, "Saw him yesterday...what about it?"

Ukyo was not fooled in the least by her daughter's pretence of indifference, "He seemed to think that you were spending a lot of time on something other than him. You'd think you were seeing another boy behind his back from the way he was acting..."

"Another boy?" there was a sudden evasive quality to Sakura's expression, and she was a little too much on her guard as she said, "Oh...it's nothing like that, Mom. At least...there's no boy he needs to worry about...not that I give a fig what Ken thinks about who I'm seeing...or not."

Ukyo arched an eyebrow and asked, "Are you seeing someone else? I've been wondering about the way you've been acting the last few days, Sugar..."

"MOM!" Sakura winced.

"Is it about Muku-chan?" Ukyo asked in a sudden shift of tactics, "I know you two have always been close, in spite of your rivalry, and I know you've had certain...feelings for her, even if I haven't felt like making any comment on it until now."

Sakura paled a bit and looked in surprise at her mother, "You know...?"

"That you like Senzenen Muku Dori?" Ukyo smiled, "I'd have to be blind not to notice how you act around her, or why you and Hibiki Yui always seem to get in fights regarding her. You don't think I wouldn't notice what effect having a crush on your best friend would have on you, Sugar, after what I went through when I was chasing after your father?"

"You...never much talk about those times," Sakura said in an attempt at evasion, "Dad just says you and Muku's mom used to be rivals..."

"And now we're good friends, and sometimes more than that," Ukyo offered her daughter a knowing look of commiseration, "You think I don't know about the effect she used to have on the boys when we were growing up together? Even back then Akane could be a real charmer...a bit violent tempered and not the most understanding person in the world, but she could be sweet when she had a mind to. Not like certain purple haired floozies I could name...and thank the Kami SHE was never any major competition."

"What, you mean Aunt Shampoo?" Sakura blinked, "What has she to do with any of this? I thought she and Uncle Tachi were always an item."

"Ever since he accidentally defeated her you mean," Ukyo winked in a conspiratorial manner, "But when she first came to Nerima she was chasing after your father...well, kind of a blood-feud thing, one of those Amazon laws of hers. Funny thing was, it was your father's female half that Shampoo was after, and imagine how thrilled she was at finding out that she was the same redheaded Osage no Onna that her intended husband was always going on about. Those were some pretty confusing times, let me tell you..."

"No wonder the Kunos are so screwed up," Sakura murmured, "I wonder why Perm's the only sane one in that mixed up family...?"

"Who knows?" Ukyo shrugged, "One of life's great mysteries. I'm just telling you this now so that you understand that relationships often take time to work out, and there's nothing wrong with being attracted to more than one party, even if it's the wrong party that's caught your interest."

"Are you telling me you had to work at it before you got together with Dad?" Sakura marveled.

"Sugar, I had to work like hell just to get your Dad to recognize me as a woman," Ukyo sniffed, "My own fault the way I used to dress and act all the time. Thank the Kami you don't have that particular problem."

Sakura colored a bit as she caught the significant meaning behind her mother's jovial reference. Sakura did like to dress up in pretty things and was basically quite feminine for all that she had Tomboyish instincts. Her mother, on the other hand-though unmistakably feminine and quite beautiful for her age-had always appeared (even in Sakura's mind) to be quite mannish in both the style of her dress and her overall behavior, almost like having a second father...AND, given that her real father could often become a second mother with the splash of a little cold water-it was almost like having TWO mothers and TWO fathers rolled up into the same package. Small wonder Sakura was sometimes more than a bit gender-conflicted in her outlook...

"TADAIMA!" a boyish voice called out brightly, "Mom, Dad, I'm home!"

"Ten-chan?" Ukyo blinked, turning to see her son rushing in through the front door wearing a different outfit from his regular school clothes, "I thought you just left for school?"

"School?" Tenma halted in mid-place and stared uncomprehendingly at his mother, "I just got back, Mom! I've been away for so long, but...don't you miss me?"

"Yeah, like anybody's gonna miss a little fungus like you," Sakura quipped with sisterly affection.

"You mean...you didn't even notice I was gone?" Tenma looked stricken, "Not even a little?"

"Sugar, you just left here not three minutes ago," Ukyo looked at her son with some concern, "Don't you remember?"

"Remember?" Tenma blinked, "Three minutes ago? But...hey! Why ain't the dojo all demolished? Did Pop fix that already?"

"You hit your head breaking boards or something?" Sakura asked, "Nobody's wrecked the dojo recently, unless you count that time in Subspace, and that doesn't really count."

"Subspace?" Tenma all but jumped on the word, "Then you know?"

"Know about what?" Ukyo sounded both concerned and mystified as if wondering what her son was going on about, and whether she ought to take him to see Doctor Tofu.

"About the war that's being waged between the Iczers," Tenma looked from his mother to his older sister in growing confusion, "You know...Aunt Two's people?"

Sakura stared in alarm at her baby brother and said, "What do you know about that?"

"Everything!" Tenma replied, "Aunt Fiber was telling me all about it and...and you don't know what I'm talking about, do you, Mom?"

Ukyo shook her head, "Not a clue, Sugar, but then I never did pry too much into what Two and her people were doing on this planet."

"Ah..." Sakura eyed her mother sidelong then turned to regard her little brother, "Tell you what, Squirt...let's you and me have a talk about it sometime, okay?"

"Yeah, like I need a lecture from a bean pole like you, Cherry-breath," Tenma snorted, then all at once he brightened again and said, "Never thought it would feel so good trading insults with you like that again, Sis. But...look...I gotta do something right now, so...if you'll excuse me, I need to go back up to my room to change..."

"You mean change for school, don't you?" Ukyo asked archly, "And what happened to your regular school uniform anyway? What's with the retro-tech outfit?"

"Oh Mom," Tenma sniffed, then turned and headed for the stairs.

"Oh, and this time don't forget to take your lunch with you," Ukyo called out as she watched her son head on up towards his room, causing her to sigh with a motherly, "Kids these days..."

"Yeah, tell me about it," Sakura noted.

"What was that, Sakura-chan?" her mother blinked.

"Ah-nothing!" Sakura winced, effecting an innocence that she was not actually experiencing at the moment.

"So, 'Fess up, Sakura-chan," Ukyo winked knowingly, "Just how are you and Ken getting along these days? Don't tell me he's actually starting to feel jealous about you and Muku?"

"Um...actually, no," Sakura squirmed a bit in her chair, "It's not like that at all...but...well...it's kind of complicated..."

"Girl, you don't know complicated until you grow up chasing a man like your Dad," Ukyo chuckled, "Whatever it is I'm sure it ain't much worse than what I lived through."

"I...wouldn't be willing to make a bet on that, Mom," Sakura said with a somewhat evasive demeanor, "There's a lot of stuff going down, and the picture keeps changing every moment."

"What, you mean Ken really is chasing after someone else?" Ukyo lifted both eyebrows.

"Uh...that depends on what you mean by chase," Sakura admitted, "And believe me, he doesn't know any more about what to make of her than I do..."

"So...do you come here often?"

Atros stared at the man beside her as they walked together from his home towards school early in the morning, giving him a curiously probing expression before she somberly inquired, "Is that what humans call an opening line? It could stand some improvement."

"Right," Ken glanced away somewhat awkwardly, "It's a human thing...no reason why you should understand it."

"Because I am only partially human?" Atros replied, then sighed, "Forgive me...I know that this must be as difficult for you as it is for me. I have only just been cleared from quarantine, and merely walking the streets of your city is itself still a novelty. I do not know how to make what your people refer to as...small talk. I was created to be a warrior, and I do not know how to socialize, not even with my new...partner."

Ken winced slightly at that, especially in light of the many hours of meticulous care that had been devoted to making an explanation to him over what **exactly** was entailed with becoming the "Partner" to an Iczer. Sister Grey was nothing if not frank in her descriptions of what might be required of him should he and Atros-The Gods forbid-ever be called into "action" together.

"I'm sorry," he said to the girl whom he had found waiting for him along the way towards his classes, "I am trying to stay on the same page here. This is all terribly new to me, and getting a crash-course in C'thuwulf politics, not to mention inter-species cross-mating..."

"You think it's any easier for me?" Atros asked, "Just finding out that I had a human mother is taking some getting used to, to say nothing of the discovery that Iczer Three is my other biological parent and not my clone-twin, as I had long assumed..."

"Y'see? Right there I kind of get lost," Ken remarked, "I mean...you're not the only person I know who has two biological mothers, but those girls were conceived through the use of magic and more conventional forms of science. The fact that you're an Android and yet have human DNA..."

"A Bioroid is no different than other forms of Organic, save that we are the products of artificial recombinant DNA technology," Atros replied, then amended, "Only...my conception was something of a fluke, the by-product of Neos Gold's attempt to wrest the Iczerio energy from Iczer Three, my mother..."

"You mean Troi, don't you?" Ken scowled somewhat, "The one who's screwing around with my iinazuke?"

Atros gave the man walking beside her a curiously amused look, "You don't like her very much, do you?"

"Who, your mother?" Ken asked with a somewhat guarded expression, "Well...no offense, but she and I didn't exactly get off on the right foot at our first meeting..."

"I'm not judging you for this," Atros replied, turning to look straight ahead, "Because the plain truth is that I...am not entirely comfortable with the association myself. My mother is a very different person from me...a less serious and conscientious sort than what I would feel comfortable with associating if she truly were my sister. The fact that she comprises approximately one half of my genetic composition is a source of some embarrassment for me, I assure you."

"You mean she doesn't exactly impress you as a parent?" Ken sounded amused at this point.

"If you mean does it thrill me to know that I am the child of someone who is lazy, irresponsible, self-indulgent, self-absorbed and obsessed with her own creature comforts...her idea of fun, then you are right to suggest that I am not entirely comfortable with the concept."

"Hmm...the way you describe her, she could almost be my mother," Ken mused a bit wryly.

"You mother?" Atros asked.

"Tofu Nabiki," he replied, "You'd have to meet her to know what I mean...she's a pretty materialistic person, but she's not all that hard to get along with, just as long as you approach her on the level of business. My dad's a more laid-back kind of guy, really heavy into mysticism, and a great chiropractor. I think you'd like him."

"They do sound very interesting," Atros agreed, "But how do you suppose that they would regard me? After all, does our mere association not compromise the agreement that they worked out between you and the clan of Saotome?"

Ken gave the woman beside him a very long and thorough study before replying. Moderately tall, very lithe and slender with overly large eyes highlighting a face that was breathtakingly beautiful, her pointed ears adding to her general alien appearance, though in all other respects she appeared to be quite human. He could definitely see the resemblance between her and both of her parents, a bit of a compromise between the features of Troi and Nagisa Kano, and yet stripped from that high-tech space armor that she had been wearing the previous day, when they had met, and now adorned with a dress that made her seem somehow more human for all her claims of being an artificially created being. The fact that they had only known each other for considerably less than a full day seemed somehow more strange...in a very real sense he felt as though he had been aware of her on some level for many years. It was strange to think of such a person as being only a few days old from her own matter of perspective.

"That could be a problem," he admitted, "But the engagement between Sakura and me has been more of a formality than a real thing in our lives. We were born engaged to one another, but we've never really felt the need to set a date or anything. It's kind of like a tradition...we give it lip service but we only take it serious when one or both of us starts to stray in another direction."

"Is that why your Sakura was looking as though she wanted to stick a sharp object in my back?" Atros asked in some amusement.

"Yeah, but she'd be in pretty poor shape to be talking about that," Ken replied with a somewhat sour expression, "After what she's been doing with your mother..."

"Don't remind me," Atros softly pleaded.

"...And then there's her private personal obsession about Muku, which she thinks I don't know anything about," Ken continued.

"Muku...you mean Senzenen Muku?" Atros blinked, "The partner to my half-sister, Rhea?"

"Yeah, didn't know about that one, huh?" Ken smiled, "She's been hot for Muku for the past several semesters, almost since becoming sexually aware, though they were close even in childhood."

"You don't sound particularly resentful about this fact," Atros noted.

"I've known both of them all of my life, and yeah, I did feel a little resentment at first," Ken admitted, "I mean...Sakura's never looked at me the way she looks at Muku when she thinks no one else is looking. I'm her fianc e, but she wants to sleep with another girl? That did give me some problems, until I more-or-less saw that it wasn't going anywhere. Sakura's too mixed up about her feelings, and Muku-chan's been pretty much oblivious to the real reason why Yui and Sakura are always fighting about her, or Gel Kuno, for that matter, though frankly I think Perm had a better chance of bedding her before your sister got in through the front gates and claimed the high ground..."

"You're mixing your metaphors again," Atros pointed out, then she grew more puzzled, "What is it about this Muku that draws the fascination of so many people?"

"You got me on that one," Ken replied, "If I knew what she's got that I don't I could bottle and sell it to make a fortune."

"Then why do you suppose those who know her most closely are the strongest drawn towards her?" Atros wondered, "And why are you not numbered among them?"

"Maybe I'm just funny that way," Ken smiled, "Maybe my tastes don't run in the same direction as Sakura and the others, or maybe I'm just not the right gender since Muku seems to attract more women than men in our merry little group."

"You think it matters which gender finds her the more attractive?" Atros wondered.

"Hey, you won't catch me saying anything against girl-girl pairings," Ken smirked, "Considering who I hang around with, that wouldn't exactly be smart, if not downright suicidal."

"There do seem to be a lot of such pairings in your immediate associations," Atros mused, "Odd thing is that such relationships are considered the norm among C'thuwulf society...it is relations with the male half of your species that is highly controversial."

"What, you mean your people got a thing against men?" Ken asked.

"I find it difficult to think of them as 'my' people," Atros noted, "But yes...some C'thuwulf are...disturbed about relations between women and men. Such things are not considered as 'natural' to their way of thinking. I, on the other hand, am somewhat less conventional in my way of thinking. I do not know what 'natural' means, and so I am a bit more open to the...possibilities such relations portend."

Ken turned and regarded the girl whom he had found waiting for him close to his home when he had started out this very morning. A few strands of her raven dark hair were brown across her face as he watched her staring straight ahead, and the way in which she reflexively combed her fingers through her long bangs made him think to himself how wonderfully feminine she was, and beautiful in ways that contrasted sharply with Sakura.

"Thank you for the compliment," she turned to regard him, "I should hope that my looks would not displease you."

Ken blinked, "Excuse me?"

"Oh?" she sounded surprised herself as she stared up at him, "Didn't you just flatter me and compare me to your girlfriend?"

"Uh...I was thinking something along those lines, yes," Ken replied, "But I'm pretty sure I didn't say anything aloud to that effect."

"Oh?" she said again, then glanced away as if to think the matter over, "I guess...maybe I picked it up through our link. I am told that the process of Synchronization creates a deep spiritual bond in which the thoughts of one sometimes mesh with the thoughts of another..."

"You mean like Telepathy?" Ken asked a bit nervously.

"I mean exactly like telepathy," Atros replied, "That is a word your people use to describe communication between minds, which is also fairly common between partners in my world."

"Really?" Ken coughed to clear his throat, "I'm amazed that any marriages work if people know exactly what their partners are thinking."

"Why?" Atros wondered, "Does the thought of my reading your thoughts disturb you that much? You should be able to do the same thing with me in return, at least on an empathic level."

"Well...no offense," Ken replied, "But...I'm not used to people knowing what's in my head..."

"Good," Atros smiled, "It will make an interesting project for me to study what is within you, not that I think it will take that long to wander about the open spaces between your thoughts."

"Hey!" Ken protested.

"Oh, I don't mind," Atros smiled, "If there is so much freespace within your mind, then it will be more space to fill with thoughts of me. By the way, we have arrived at your destination."

"Huh?" Ken blinked, only to see the familiar gates of the Furinkan high school campus loom up before him.

"I will leave you now to attend to your studies," Atros mused, "Though I find it odd that you prefer to obtain knowledge through such a cumbersome and inefficient process. C'thuwulf methods are infinitely simpler, feeding us what we need to know while we are incubated through direct neural transfer..."

"Sounds like a pretty sterile way to learn," Ken remarked, "Don't you miss spending time with your fellow students, learning to talk about girl-stuff with the other female students?"

"I would not know about any of that," Atros sighed, "Perhaps there are advantages to your less efficient methods that are worth further consideration and analysis. I shall contemplate this during my next sleep cycle and reflect on all that you have shared with me...so that I will be better prepared for our next conversation."

Ken saw that the black-haired Iczer was about to turn away from him and thought to ask, "By the way...why did you want to talk with me just now? Not that I mind, but it was a surprise meeting you the way we did."

"My...grandmother suggested this approach as a means of getting to know more about you...my partner," Atros explained, "She said that earth girls normally walk to school boys with whom they share a common interest. You seemed to be vexed about our bonding yesterday that I thought to do something that would assure you that I am not some kind of an alien monster."

"Hey, I'd never accuse you of being that..." Ken protested.

"No?" Atros seemed halfway between amused and sad, "Then you do not really know me all that well. Wait until you obtain the full story of what I was like before my mother rescued me from Gold. I was quite the monster until a few days ago, but now...I'm just beginning to learn to be something else, and perhaps you can help me discover what I am now that I am less of a monster."

With that she turned around and began to walk away, only to vanish in a brief halo of light before she had gone three paces, leaving Ken to stare at her vanished silhouette, the image of her burned into his mind as he thought on what a good effect of the light had played upon her just then. His cameraman's soul was intrigued at how she had managed to achieve such an unselfconscious ease of posing to good effect. He could almost imagine her making a good living as a photographer's model.

"I got a feeling I'm getting in deeper than I know what to do about," he murmured to himself with a sigh, "So why aren't I more worried? Mom and Dad are never gonna believe this..."

"Sister?" Iczer One asked as she found Iczer Two overlooking a generation pit in which a new Iczer Robo was currently being grown and incubated, "Sister Grey told me that you had commissioned this, but I did not understand why. You are creating a new companion for Atros?"

"I have approval from Sir Violet," Iczer Two replied, "I hope you don't think that I was going over your head, but...I understand that you were involved in some rather delicate negotiations with the humans."

"They are nervous about the recent string of attacks that we have been under," Iczer One replied, "Nagisa and I had to work to pacify them and assure them that we are taking steps to rectify the problem..."

"Are we?" Iczer Two inquired, "After all...so far we have merely been reacting to Big Gold's attacks. We have been playing a defensive game, and so far we have been quite lucky. I decided that a new Iczer Robo might help tilt the odds in our favor, especially with Nova's currently off-line being screened, debugged and reconstituted, freed from all traces of Gold's evil influence."

"I agreed with the need to have another weapon in our arsenal," Iczer One remarked, "But is it fair to draft Atros into such a battle? She's only just synchronized with her new partner..."

"Yes...and with a man of all things," Iczer Two quirked a smile at the concept, "It seems our younger generation of warriors are not quite as set in their ways as we are, which is to be welcomes, I think, since it was our stubborn rigidity that caused the fall of our homeworld."

"You may be right about that," Iczer One admitted, "I was there during the fall, and I was helpless to prevent it. My first partner died because she didn't have the resilience and strength of will to live that Nagisa has in such abundance. I often think that the reason the Goddess made us so dependent on these humans was to have them pass along to us the strength of their survival instincts, to teach us what we had lost during our millennia of peace and prosperity..."

"Nothing ruins the soul so much as too much contentment," Iczer Two agreed, "Often I wonder if I was meant to be as happy as I have been thanks to Sayoko. Having her for a partner has given me a will to live that I could never have imagined..."

"Which proves my point," Iczer One smiled, "We both have been blessed in our partners, and it has made the both of us much stronger for our union."

"It has also taught us the true meaning of self-sacrifice," Iczer Two turned to regard her older sister, "Like that painful day we both remember so well...when Nagisa willingly sacrificed her life in order to make you invincible. I watched it happen and could not believe when I saw you kill her and take her soul into yourself...but you became one being, unstoppable...against which all the power that Gold claimed to have became as nothing."

"Yes, it was the most painful thing I have ever had to do," Iczer One admitted, "I could not have imagined that full Synchronization would be the result of such a terrible deed. Of course the power quickened me but gradually diminished once I expended it to change the nature of the timeline..."

"Which is where we find ourselves today," Iczer Two remarked, "Dealing with the unintended consequences of your actions...but if you had not chosen to act from the heart the way you did, then none of this would even be. You have nothing to regret for your noble actions, and you will never hear me speak one ill word towards your decisions."

"It is good to know that I can count on your support, my Sister," Iczer One said fondly, "And you know that I would have sanctioned the commission of a new Iczer Robo...but the designation..."

"Iczer-Sigma?" Iczer Two smiled, "You don't believe in poetic ironies? I thought you'd appreciate turning a weapon of that designation against she who once thought to crush you using me as her catspawn."

"All right, I think I can appreciate the gesture," Iczer One admitted, "Let us hope, then, that this Iczer Robo-Sigma fares much better than the original..."

"With all the improved additional features that I'm having incorporated?" Iczer Two grinned, "I would stake my life on it...in point of fact, I am staking the lives of Troi's daughter and her partner."

"A good point," Iczer One noted, "And Nova's Iczer?"

"Ordinarily I would have anything touched by Gold broken down for scrap," Iczer Two said without smiling, "But since this is my daughter's Iczer, and as it is a prime piece of technology that had been intended for use against us, I think it will serve us well to turn it against Gold and whatever monstrosities she next chooses to send against us."

"Another fine point," Iczer One smiled softly, "You make a pretty fair military governor in your own right, Sister. Perhaps you wouldn't mind taking over so that Nagisa and I could enjoy a much-needed vacation?"

"There is only one Protector, and it your burden to bear," Iczer Two smiled wryly once again, "So don't even think about unloading that responsibility on my shoulders. I'm content enough to be your second, and as Military Leader, I have more than enough authority to use at my discretion."

"And you do that very well, but still..." Iczer One started to say when she heard a voice in her mind and responded immediately, "Yes Nagisa?"

"Ah, your better half beckons," Iczer Two nodded sagely, understanding-as her sister did-how such a call had priority over affairs of state and other lesser forms of business.

Iczer One ignored the faintly teasing tone of her fellow warrior and listened in as she heard her partner's mental explanation, then she nodded and said, "Understood, I'll go talk to her at once."

"Problems?" Iczer Two asked curiously.

"I think you could define it as such," Iczer One admitted, "Rhea is having what the humans call an emotional crisis, and Nagisa thinks that I should go talk to her...something about having been where she was before...but I'm not too sure what that means."

"Probably something to do with being a parent," Iczer Two divined, "Which means I'll probably be learning all about it first hand the more I come to associate with Nova."

"Then I had best be on my way to see what's bothering her," Iczer One remarked, "We'll talk again about this strange new world of parental concerns that you are starting out upon, Sister, and...perhaps I might even be able to share with you a few helpful pointers."

With that the elder Iczer teleported away from the observation platform, leaving Iczer Two to sigh and say, "Beloved sister, I fear that there are issues to parenting that even first-hand experience cannot impart. A pity such skills were never downloaded into our matrix...but then again, I think with both already know the most important lesson of any parent...that we will sacrifice everything for the sake of our children."

With that she turned her thoughts away, not wishing to dwell upon the logical implications to which such thinking would inevitably would inevitably lead...

"Muku-chan?" Iczer One asked as she paused outside the chamber that was her daughter's private quarters.

There was no immediate reply, but then she heard Rhea mentally acknowledge, **Yes, Mother?**

That was invitation enough for Iczer One to phase in through the door and appear inside Rhea's room, and-to her surprise-she found her child sitting on her bed with one leg curled up to her chin, one of her stuffed toys held in both arms as though she had been hugging it to herself, and there was a pensive quality to her eyes that implied that she had been doing some serious thinking.

"Rhea-chan?" Iczer One asked gently, "What's wrong? Why have you locked yourself in your room and refused to talk to Nagisa?"

"It's nothing personal, Mother," Rhea said in a somewhat muffled voice, only to lower her knee so that her doll was not **quite** as close up to her mouth as to prevent normal speaking, "It's just...when you and mother got together...did you ever have times when you felt confused and frustrated...as if you were never going to understand humans?"

Iczer One rocked back on her heels as she absorbed the implications of this question, many ready responses coming almost instantly to mind, though for the sake of charity she stifled most of them and instead asked a universally evasive question, "What brought this up all of a sudden?"

Rhea-dutiful child that she was-knew her parents far too well to be distracted by such a question, "Please answer the question, Mother."

Iczer One sighed, knowing that avoidance was a poor substitute for the honest such a question all but mandated, "In truth...many times I thought that I would never understand human thinking. Perhaps it comes from a different perspective, being born an adult with knowledge fed into me directly. Your mother and I decided to take a different approach with you, to give you only the basic operating knowledge that you would need to get by, then letting you learn the rest for yourself, one day at a time, one experience after the other, exactly as is the way with humans...humans not born C'thuwulf, that is. And yes...when I was first getting to know Nagisa...there were times when I thought I would never understand her."

"But you understand her now, correct?" Rhea asked.

"Ah...well..." Iczer One hesitated then answered truthfully, "Mostly..."

Rhea looked up in surprise at her Bioroid parent, "You mean...even after all these years?"

"Rhea-chan," Iczer One replied, "I've known Nagisa for almost twenty years now...half of those spent in a mutually satisfying partnership called marriage. I never tire of being around her, and I have never stopped learning new things about her, which is part of the overall fascination that she has brought into my life. There are always new experiences that we can share that will teach us both about each other, and I find such an arrangement more than enjoyable as it keeps an element of mystery and discovery in our world. I suppose that without this mystery we would grow to find a certain sameness to our days that would be far less interesting and might lead to a lessening of our mutual enjoyment."

"Then...how did you manage to finally get together?" Rhea wondered, "Was it only Synchronization that made you first take notice?"

"All that did was to make me aware that Nagisa existed," Iczer One revealed, "It took longer than the instant when I knew that she was my partner for me to grow to know and love what I discovered about Nagisa. She filled an emptiness in my life like the pieces of a puzzle coming together, and the more I knew her was the more I loved her until there was no sacrifice too great for me to overcome in order to be with her. Even death ultimately did not keep us apart, and even the separation of years and parsecs of distance could not prevent our eventually reuniting when the fates brought us both together. It was, however, more easy for me to love her than for her to learn to care for me the same way, and even then Nagisa did not fully comprehend what it was that I wanted from being around her. It took many wrong turns and missteps before we crossed that barrier and found ourselves meeting half way at the middle between our mutual wants, desires and expectations..."

"So...in other words you courted her...and she eventually loved you back?" Rhea clarified, "But how did you do this, Mother? How did you get her to love you?"

"I didn't compel her to love me, Rhea-chan," Iczer One explained, "I had to let Nagisa decide for herself that she wanted to be a part of my world, even as she was at the center of my thoughts and wishes. I loved her with all my being, and I knew that she cared for me back as a friend, but it was when she knew that she loved me back that I truly became her partner. It was the happiest day for me when she accepted my love without reservation, and we pledged ourselves together in the bonds of marriage that we share unto the present. You have to allow love to happen if it is to occur at all...but there is quite a lot of work involved in keeping a relationship going. Above all else you have to be patient..."

"Patient," Rhea threw her doll down against her bed in her frustration, "I am being patient, Mother, but...but when am I going to earn Muku's love without reservation? I thought that we had moved closer together after our last brush against Nova, but right at the moment when I thought that I was going to claim her as my own, we got interrupted, and then...we lost the mood...and I could sense Muku-chan moving away from me again. And now it feels as if the progress we have made has all been for nothing..."

"For nothing?" Iczer One blinked, "Why would you think that?"

"She doesn't understand, Mother!" Rhea complained, "I can feel it in her thoughts how she wants to let go and express herself to me on a sexual level...but...it's like she doesn't fundamentally understand what the next phase should be! She's never really been in love before, she hasn't had other partnerings with friends who could teach her the basics of sharing intimacies, and I think she's a little bit frightened of letting go of her defenses. Can you imagine? She has friends who want to share intimacies with her, and yet she's even more of a virgin than I am!"

Iczer One blinked twice as she tried to absorb the significance of what her daughter was saying, "You mean...her parents have neglected to teach her about sex?"

"Evidently," Rhea spoke the word with a certain arched tone that was quite unlike her normally reserved sense of even temper, "How could somebody get to be her age and have all these people who want to bed with her, and yet she remains so...so...so CLUELESS about what they want to do with her? I can sense their thoughts and I know that many are resentful of me because I am so much closer to Muku than they are, and yet they know her better than I and they're afraid to state their preferences!"

"Ah..." Iczer One suddenly had a flash of what the humans of Earth called "d j vu," a phenomenon that made her feel as though history were moving in a cycle, that the reflections of her daughter were hauntingly familiar with similar complaints that she had thought (yet never openly expressed) towards Nagisa.

Rhea stared morosely off into a corner of her room that had nothing especially eye-catching and sighed, "I love her, Mother...I love her so much! And yet it feels sometimes as if she wants to push me away, as if she's embarrassed to return my affections. I don't want to frighten her, and I certainly don't want to force her into anything, but...what else can I do? If an attack should occur, then I need to bond with her inside our Iczer-Robo. Leaving her alone is no good...the sooner I take my mind off of her, the sooner our enemies move to attack her..."

"Rhea-chan," Iczer one spoke soothingly, "I know it must seem difficult, even confusing, the kinds of conflicted signals your partner must be sending, but...things are not always as bad as your fears might let you believe. You can't unbond from a partner, and you would never have synchronized if she was not compatible with you, so...if you give her time, then she will realize on her own that you were meant to be together..."

"I wish that I could be as confident of this," Rhea sighed, stretching her legs out as she thought about her Muku, "The longer it takes for her to call to me and allow me to be one with her, the more painful is the reality of our separation..."

"I know that feeling well," Iczer One assured her daughter, "You can survive a bit longer. It took me years to finally earn Nagisa's love, you've only known Senzenen Muku for a little more than a week and a half..."

"I suppose I could wait a bit longer," Muku said, "But...why does she avoid facing her emotions when I can sense her longing to be with me? Why does she say both 'yes' and 'no' either alternately or at the same time? Is she afraid to love me? Or is it a cultural thing...is she afraid to love me because I am a woman?"

Iczer One decided that Rhea's bed was big enough for two and sat down heavily beside her daughter, "Do you know how many times I asked that very question? Did you know how much Nagisa resented me at the beginning, before she understood what my mission was or why I needed her cooperation? We were together just two brief days that first time over twenty years in the past, and yet in that time we seemed to live a lifetime. I can't advise you any better than to say...I've been where you are and...I somehow survived it. You will survive it too...you're our daughter, the product of the success of our love. You're living proof that persistence does pay, just so long as you give Muku a chance, and maybe let her see the real you completely."

"Do you really think that might work, Mother?" Rhea asked.

Iczer One stretched out an arm and affectionately hugged her daughter, "How could she fail to love someone like you, Rhea-chan? You're as caring and as kind-hearted as Nagisa herself, and if Senzenen Muku is unaware of how much love you have to share, I know you will make her aware of everything about you that is there to be loved. I know you feel frustrated and lonely right now, but have hope and good cheer, the day is at hand when you will have everything you desire and then some."

"I hope that this will be true, Mother," Rhea smiled as she leaned her head against the older Bioroid's shoulder, "And I will try to be patient."

"That's all that I can ask...other than that you be prepared to weather the storms that will come with the good parts," Iczer One cautioned, "And be prepared for emotional flare-ups, sudden mood-shifts and other unexpected twists and turns that humans are capable of manifesting on the turn of a yen piece. To be patient is very hard, especially in the face of great emotional turmoil. You can't expect consistency from a human mind...it's one of their more vexing qualities, to be subject to the battering of hormonal shifts and quixotic mood-  
swings."

Rhea was very round-eyed as she turned and looked at her mother, "Can it really get as bad as this?"

"Oh yes," Iczer One rolled her eyes towards the ceiling, "All that and more...but if you can ride out the bad times, the good times will be even sweeter when they happen."

"Oh," Rhea said as she thought it over, "Well...I certainly hope Muku doesn't turn out to be like that, though...I will remember your words, Mother, and try to accommodate her."

"Good," Iczer One gave into impulse and affectionately ruffled her daughter's hair, much the same way as she had seen Troi do on many an occasion to her occasional dates, "Now get yourself dressed...your mother and I have a surprise for you. We've made some arrangements, pulled a few strings, and took advantage of some political pull we have, and I think you'll like the little proposition that we would like to offer you so that you and Muku will be even closer together."

"Oh?" Rhea blinked, then as she stared into the eyes of her Bioroid parent she formed a glimmering of her proposal and asked, "You mean...truly?"

"We've already bought the uniform," Iczer One smiled, "It's in your size, so feel free to try it on, then you can inspect your school supplies and see if everything is to your satisfaction."

"Oh, Mother!" Rhea impulsively hugged her elder, "Thank you! You've made me so happy!"

"I take it, then, that our surprise is to your satisfaction?" Iczer One hugged her daughter back, then let her go and said, "I will go and inform your mother of your decision."

With that she teleported from the room, only to stumble as she found Nagisa waiting for her just beyond the room, a knowing expression telling her that her wife was fully aware of the pertinent details of her conversation with Rhea.

"Mood-swings and flare-ups?" Nagisa asked archly, "On behalf of human women everywhere, I feel mildly insulted."

"Oh...uhm...you heard that, eh?" Iczer One said nervously, "Well...I was trying to help..."

"And you did," Nagisa replied, "At the expense of making me sound like an emotional basket case that you have to walk around as if you're on eggshells."

"That wasn't my intention, Nagisa," Iczer One pleaded, "You believe me...don't you?"

"How would I know?" Nagisa replied, "I'm only human...you can't expect emotional consistency out of me, remember?"

"Ah...well...I may have overstated that point a bit..." Iczer One stammered to reply, only to be taken by surprise as Nagisa drew her into her arms and planted a kiss upon her lips that brought an abrupt halt to her hasty attempt at an apology.

Much to her further surprise she heard Nagisa murmur into her ear, "And that's for all that I put you through when we were just starting out, when I didn't even know my own mind, let alone how sweet life with you would be...and you were right, the reward was worth the waiting, hai?"

Iczer One could only stare at her wife in wonder, marveling at what a constant mystery she truly was, and how life with Nagisa was never truly boring.

Unseen behind them, Rhea poked her head out of her room, drawn by the curious emotional waves emanating from her parents. She smiled when she saw the two of them embracing in a highly familiar way then withdrew back into her room and murmured, "Maybe there is hope for Muku and me after all...OH, if only that could be us embracing..."

She decided it was worth getting up and leaving the house after all, especially since it was a school day, and the last thing she wanted was to be late for her first classes...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/C'thuwulf Love Connections: shadowmane

The calm between storms draws to a close and Big Gold's latest offensive is lurking in the wings, but the real crisis looms as Muku makes a terrible decision, and Tenma makes a discovery that has him seeing double...but what is Fiber planning that might help turn the odds more in the favor of the C'thuwulf? Learn the answer to this and so much else next time in, "Pleasure is Pain," or "A Tale of Two Tenmas." Be there!

X -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	31. Chapter 31

Earthchild31

The Earthchild

(A Ranma/Iczer/Sailor Moon Crossover)

By Jim Robert Bader

(Featuring characters and situations created by Rumiko Takahashi, Naoko Takeuchi, Toshihiro Hirano,  
&amp; Hitoshi Okuda, with ideas and suggestions by TH Tiger and Johannes Huber)

Chapter Thirty-One.

"You sent for me, Mother?"

"Yes," Big Gold replied, "I have an important assignment for you, Neos...you are to lead an assault upon the worldship of the C'thuwulf that will consist of a sizeable detachment of Geas, Voids and Venomoid assault pods. The attack will begin in a matter of twelve earth hours..."

"An assault on the mothership?" Neos Gold remarked, "That is a bold plan, but are we prepared to penetrate their defenses?"

"You won't have to penetrate them," Gold replied, "That is the beauty of my plan. You are to lure the bulk of their defensive forces into an exact position that I will detail to you, and once they are in the right location I will spring the true trap that I have planned for these upstarts."

"An ambush...designed to neutralize a sizeable portion of the enemy's forces?" Neos spoke in open admiration of the scheme, "How diabolically treacherous...I salute you, Mother."

"It won't matter if you capture or kill the majority of their forces," Gold assured her, "The point of the operation is to weaken their defenses upon the Earth, where I intend to launch the true assault against Gamora base itself. Feel free to do whatever you like to any Iczelions or Iczers who fall into your snare, but those who survive will find that they no longer have a terrestrial base worth defending...and then the world ship will be next. Victory will be mine at last, and then the Earth itself shall suffer!"

"But who is to lead this primary assault if I am away making sport with the Iczelions?" Neos wondered.

"My new lieutenants, of course," Gold smiled as she inclined her head to indicate the pair who now stood off to one side looking grim and determined, "May I present do you the new Grey and Cross...formerly known as the human whelps named Gel and Godai Kuno. They will be my sword to penetrate the shielding that defends the C'thuwulf city."

Neos saw the pair so indicated and nodded slowly, sensing the sheer power hidden beneath the seemingly harmless exterior of the two human pawns, and suddenly she was smiling as well as she tasted impending victory, the sweet, delicious knowledge that the Iczers would be doomed, and with them the pathetic humans whom they sheltered. It was, in a word, a perfect plan for which humanity would be doomed, and all beneath the very noses of those annoying Iczers, including the recent traitors, Atros and Nova.

(Let us see you counteract this assault, Iczer One and Troi...your days are finally numbered,) Atros mused as Big Gold's citadel began to ring with the daunting echo of malevolent laughter...

Perm stared at her schoolpad and frowned, wondering about this ominous chill which she felt running down her back. She had been greatly concerned about her missing brother and sister and could not shake the dread that she might not see them again in anything like the condition that she remembered. An enemy of such vast cruelty and evil had them within her possession, and there was no telling just how far the corruption might spread under such a baleful influence.

She did not exactly hold it against Muku and the others that they did not share her degree of concern. After all, Perm would be the first one to admit that her siblings were unpopular with their fellow classmates, and it was not difficult to understand why. Gel-her twin-had a very abrasive personality, while Godai took a little too much after their father, being at once obnoxious and self-centered. Perm knew that-were they not her immediate kin-she herself might have difficulty working up much sympathy for their absence...but, in all truth, Gel was like the missing half of her own personality, and Godai-for all his brashness-was her older brother, her Oniisan. She could not abandon family, nor could she disavow the good years that they had shared together as well as the bad. She had to get them back somehow or she knew her parents would suffer grievously from their losses...

And yet still she found that her mind could not keep from traveling back to Muku, who seemed somehow a changed person from the brash and cocky girl that she had been all through their childhood. Muku had become somewhat more mature in her behavior, almost as if she had a sense more of responsibility for the life she affected, the people who were drawn to her natural charisma. Perm was as yet uncertain that the change was for the better, but she was willing to hold out for the benefit of the doubt, having no small degree of private admiration for their resident Skating champion and all-around ingeneous martial artist.

Muku was sitting in her usual spot near the middle window isle of their classroom, Yumi sitting beside her and acting like her usual busybody self. Sakura was sitting behind Yumi acting subdued and reserved as if having a lot on her mind and not feeling inclined to share her private concerns. And Perm? She was sitting next to Sakura, the both of them regarding Muku with private stares that held out a lot of conflicted emotions. It was a fairly standard arrangement in their classroom, but tainted by the sense that things were changing all around them, the absent seat formerly occupied by Gel being a noticeable absence of which Perm was all too well aware.

"So come on and tell me," Yumi was softly insisting at that particular moment, taking advantage of the teacher's momentary inattention while he was writing something on the blackboard, "What happened with you and Rhea-chan last night? Don't you want to tell me?"

"Nothing happened last night," Muku was saying in mild exasperation, risking calling attention from the teacher as her voice tended to arch in mid-sentence, "Get off my case, Yumi-chan...I'm trying to study..."

Perm privately wondered where Muku's pet guardian angel was about on this particular morning. There was no sense of a lurking presence, no hidden shape hovering in the trees near to the window, not even a feeling of the fiery-gold haired Iczer being within the immediate periphery of Perm's somewhat heightened Chi senses. She could not quite believe that the alien elf-girl had totally abandoned her "darling Muku," not with the threat hanging over everyone's collective heads by the same force which had done such extensive damage to the school building a few days back. Surely this Rhea Kano had not given up in her pursuit of the somewhat clueless Muku, Perm doubted that she herself would be that lucky. Unfair competition was easy to resent, even if there was reason to personally respect and even admire her as both a warrior and a protector.

Muku was looking a bit uneasy, though whether it was about her missing girlfriend or from other reasons not so obvious was difficult to determine. That Yumi was not helping things by pestering Muku with questions was far more obvious...to everyone but Yumi. It was the curious inclusion of Yui Hibiki-  
who rarely showed up for classes at all due to her family's directional problem-  
-that added a heightened bit of tension to Perm's sensitive and alert perspective.

There was something uneasy, almost fragile about the way Yui was sitting by herself while eyeing everyone with an edgy sense of distance...like she was even more of an outsider to their little group than was normally the case...that most drew Perm's attention regarding this most peculiar of classmates. It was as if the major players of the Muku fan club society (otherwise known as fellow travelers and martial arts students) were being drawn together for some strange purpose of destiny, as though the stage were being set for some dramatic scene of their ongoing life-adventure. Perm hoped that this was not the prelude to yet another giant robot assault upon their homeroom (there had been enough of those to last a full week) yet she could not shake the sense that something interesting was indeed about to take place. Yui's uneasiness, Sakura's introspective continence, Yumi's overly exuberant curiosity, it all fit into some larger more elaborate pattern.

But what was the piece that she also sensed was missing?

And then it occurred to Perm that she was restricting the scope of her vision to only take in the female members of their martial arts society. There was one other active player whom she had neglected to take into account, but now that she thought to include him she could see yet another important element of the drama that she sensed was unfolding. Ken Tofu was sitting off by himself and not acting quite as annoyingly self-satisfied as to what Perm was normally accustomed. If anything he seemed to be deep in thought on some other matter besides the lecture that their teacher was giving, and there was a decided lack of attention being paid towards Sakura, whom he normally delighted in irritating with his presence. Sakura was also rather pointedly NOT looking at him, as if the two iinazuke were intent on avoiding one another. This was singularly curious in and of itself as no matter what else those two might be doing they usually could not help being involved in some way with one another.

What was she missing in all of this? Perm normally schooled herself as a very good observer, but this time out the tension level in the room gave few clues as to the exact nature of that tension. Sakura was not looking at Ken, was even projecting a rather chilly air to the space between them as though he had done something to seriously irritate her...or rather, something more severe than his usual pranks and methods of drawing her attention. Ken-even more strangely-  
did not seem to mind that he was being pointedly ignored by his own fianc e. If anything it seemed as if he had someone else on his mind, as though he had been seeing someone else in a romantic sense and in full view and knowledge of Sakura.

Which was odd considering that Perm already knew about Sakura's strange attraction towards that pointy-eared Biker-chick named Troi. Indeed, she had been aware of Troi's interest in Sakura back when they were in the dojo together and the white haired alien girl had been openly flirting with both Sakura and her mother. The odds were that something had gone down between Troi and Sakura, something for which Saotome had evidently been unprepared to prevent from happening, so-logically speaking-if anyone had a reason to be jealous and angry, it was Ken towards Sakura, not the other way around...

Which was interesting for entirely different reasons. Perm wondered if the field around Muku was steadily drying up as each of the potential rivals were drawn away in different directions. Yui and Sakura both had unexpressed desires that they were barely even aware about, but Perm knew where her own feelings lay in the matter, and as such had kept her peace as the last thing which she wanted to do was come across as some infatuated fool like Godai, her own brother! Gel had her own feelings of longing and resentment towards Muku but never did have a clue as to their real nature. Perm was determined to be as much unlike them as she could, but mostly because she did not need to have her heart be broken by rejection since Muku herself seemed so painfully unaware of just how popular she was among her fellow students.

Perm decided to turn at least a portion of her attention back towards their teacher even though the man had such a boring stage presence that he drained whatever life there might be found in the subject matter being covered. Perm already knew the material anyway and did not need to listen much to keep up, but there was always the chance that she might be called upon to answer a question, and with her mind on the continuing soap opera that was the daily cycle of life around Muku it was far too easy to become overly distracted.

What a pity they had been forced to move into temporary classrooms while their homeroom itself was under repairs, along with a whole wing of the main building. Perm would have liked to have counted the dots on the walls to break up the monotony, but even that mindless pleasure was denied her, so instead she alternated with taking notes on her note-pad and actually wondering if the teacher himself had taken lessons on being so boring. It was almost enough to make one welcome an attack by alien monsters if only to get through the next hour without being bored to death. In fact the only productive thing that Perm could think about doing was to mentally catalogue and go over the various martial arts maneuvers that comprised her Wu Shu arsenal, which combined with her father's Kendo and Nampo lessons, plus Uncle Ranma's various styles of Aerial Kempo, that combined to form an impressive inventory of "Anything Goes" maneuvers, some of which she would probably be called upon to use if they really did come under an attack in the next few minutes...

Wait one minute...what was that? Perm sat up as her senses registered a powerful presence that was approaching from the hallway. She gaped in awe as the teacher was interrupted in his lessons, called off to the side to speak with someone who was out of Perm's line-of-sight yet who felt familiar in a highly disturbing manner. The teacher accepted a sheaf of paper and read it, then nodded affirmation and urged the party to whom he was speaking to enter the classroom.

As she did this he turned to his students and said, "Class...we have a new foreign exchange student who is beginning her first day as a part of this classroom, so let's give a big Kangei Suru to..." he paused to glance at the paper before reading aloud, "Miss Kano Rhea, former resident of Tokyo's Ninth District..."

At the mention of the name Muku sat bolt upright, even as the other members of their close-knit band reacted with varying degrees of surprise and consternation. It occurred to Perm that the appropriate setting should have called upon Muku to either be drinking or to have something in her mouth that would be violently expelled about this point. That alone diminished the full impact of having the slender reddish-gold haired elf-girl walking pleasantly into the room wearing a school uniform whose green coloration set off a play against her hair quite nicely. Large eyes and pointed ears aside, wearing an outfit such as that made her seem somewhat more...conventional (though that might be too strong a word to describe the actual effect she secretly reckoned). To be certain those classmates who had not seen or met Rhea before sat up and paid attention, the boys mostly to ogle her exotic looks, the girls (mostly) to glare resentfully at the latest competition (all save those, of course, who would rate themselves as competition for Muku).

Rhea smiled brightly and immediately gazed with open fondness in Muku's direction, causing Senzenen to color abruptly with embarrassment at having been singled out in such a forward manner. Yumi looked from Rhea to Muku and back again with surprise even as Sakura and Yui both gripped their desks in a telltale manner. Muku herself only gawped, as if having Rhea for a new classmate had been numbered among the last thing that she had expected.

It seemed that the teacher was oblivious to these goings on (of course) right beneath his nose and quite innocently assigned Rhea to sit down at the desk normally reserved for Gel, which put her only two lanes down from Muku. Yumi interrupted the teacher and suggested that she trade places with Rhea so that the "new girl" could sit closer to the window. She hastily cleared out of her seat and offered the position to Rhea, who smiled as she accepted the offer, sitting down next to Muku with as much enthusiasm as if she were being offered box seats at a major concert. Muku did not look particularly comfortable as she squirmed a bit in her own desk chair, all too aware that the eyes of their fellow students were upon them.

"Excuse me, Perm-chan," Yumi asked politely as she paused before the purple haired Kuno's desk, "I hope you won't mind since Gel's not here..."

Perm waved the point aside, "Take her seat, I'm sure she wouldn't protest too much," she said on behalf of her absent twin, knowing full well that Gel would have raised holy hell at the idea of anyone even touching what she considered to be her territorial space. At least Yumi had been tactful enough to ask before sitting down rather than just assuming-as others might-that Gel's departure was a near-permanent condition.

Perm took another moment to study the effect the beautiful elf-girl had on those sitting nearest to her. Yui and Sakura were scowling, Ken was arching both eyebrows in speculative interest, and Yumi was all but busting at the seams with a desire to ask the questions that surely everyone else was considering at the moment. Her mere presence changed the working dynamic in the entire room, adding an element of color and excitement, a whiff of the exotic and forbidden even to those who knew something about her actual nature and origins.

It was interesting to see the effect Rhea had upon Muku herself, the dark-haired Senzenen eyeing her golden-haired "partner" with something halfway between curiosity and vexation. Clearly not all was well in paradise with those two, though Perm doubted that Rhea herself knew just what sort of a spot she had put Muku into, and how this might affect the natural flow of their future relations. In a way her presence made a kind of sense, like the natural next evolutionary stage to being incorporated into Muku's life as a permanent fixture, but before matters could proceed any further with those two it was obvious that some issues had to be resolved, not least of which was Muku's own comfort level in being so involved with another woman.

In a very odd way this made Perm feel a measure of sympathy for her nominal rival, knowing full well that it could be her feelings that might be at risk were she this open and brazen about her affections. If she had approached Muku in open petition that their friendship might be carried to another level she had a pretty fair sense of how the other girl might have reacted. It was the same reasoning that had held both Yui and Sakura silent all these months when they had been in low-intensity conflict with one another. Far easier to challenge the other girls to a series of martial arts challenge matches in which they pit their skills together and indirectly resolved questions of who had the strongest claim to be a potential suitor. By such means they had managed to discourage other would-be rivals among their schoolmates, but now an outsider had sailed right in through the proverbial front gates and made further progress than the rest of them combined simply by being such an innocent and by not taking any of Muku's avoidances as a reason to give up early in her endeavors. In a way that made Rhea the bravest one of all of them, and the most likely to be subjected to the pain of possible rejection.

At last the teacher wound down enough in his lecture that Yumi felt bold enough to ask, "Hey, Rhea-chan...are you gonna be a student here from now on in this class?"

"Yes," the alien girl managed to make the word sound almost musical as she added, "My parents made the arrangements to enroll me yesterday, so I'm starting a bit late in the semester, but I hope to fully accepted as one of you for the remainder of the term."

"Well, isn't that just peachy," Sakura murmured half-to-herself while Yui's scowl threatened to bring both of her eyebrows into one continuous pencil line.

Muku seemed reluctant to say anything, but at last she asked, "Did you know they were going to do this?"

"No, it was as much a surprise for me as anyone," Rhea said brightly, "But this way we can be together nearly all the time, Muku-chan, isn't that nice?"

Muku's expression was a remarkably dubious one as she murmured in reply, "Oh yeah...just terrific..."

Indeed, Perm silently mused, trouble in paradise indeed, which left her wondering what this might imply for the future, and whether Rhea Kano had any sense of the impending discord that threatened to loom over the shores of her happy, blissful state of self-contentment, and whether Perm had any obligation to try and warn her since she did not bear the elf-girl any actual ill-will.

And after all...even rivals owed some token of courtesy towards one another...

Tenma hopped the fence and ran the several blocks to the other end of the Furinkan Financial district before lightly dropping into the yard to pay respects to Cologne, the owner and proprietor of a popular teashop known as the Ginseng. He straightened up as he saw the withered old matron and called out to her brightly, "Hey, Baba! You'll never guess what I've been studying for the past month or so! You've gotta come see this!"

Cologne-former matriarch of the Joketsuzoku Amazons, looked up from polishing her chinaware as she saw the young boy dropping into her rear garden area and smiled in warm greeting. Since coming to live in Japan she had founded the tea shop as a means of staying close to the action, even though her great-  
granddaughter had warned her off from "meddling" directly in the affairs of her family, and since marrying a man of whom the Matriarch did not strictly approve, she had become a rather lonely figure desperate for novelty and gossip, and willing to play friendly matron to the people who frequented her establishment. It was with some joy that she often found herself becoming involved with members of the younger generation, who were not as prone to misjudge her for some trivial "past indiscretions," and she always enjoyed the periodic visits of this young son of one of the most exemplary men whom Cologne had ever known, including her first and second husbands.(Not to mention third, fifth, seventh, and thirteenth...)

"Well now," Cologne slyly regarded the brash young son of one whom she often thought of as her "other apprentice," sensing a change in the boy's aura that suggested many new and interesting things that might attract the notice of even a jaded old Matron as herself, "What is this, young Master? Has your father been teaching you a new trick of which I was not aware?"

"No, Pop didn't teach me this one," Tenma grinned broadly, "A friend of mine taught this to me. Just watch and I'll show you!"

Fifteen minutes later a much-impressed Cologne whistled appreciatively as the boy concluded his performance, "Well now, young Master...a Master indeed you seem to have become. And how is it that you perform this...No puppetry did you call it?"

"Yeah," Tenma agreed as he lowered the Chinese dolls that he had been manipulating as if on invisible strings and set them back where they had been resting about the tea shop beforehand, "It's kind of like moving stuff with your mind, but it's got a lot to do with story telling and drama, and you kind of have to have a feel for weaving the energy patterns in your surroundings, but I figure you'd know a lot more about stuff like that."

"Indeed," Cologne sagely noted, "But it is all but unheard of to find one as young as you who can master such a difficult concept. You have once again confirmed my firm conviction that your father's gifts have been passed on to you in full measure. I thank you for entertaining me with this fine talent...and you say you have been trained to incorporate this...weaving...into a capable martial art system?"

"Yeah, but it ain't as powerful here as it is in the Subspace field where I was trained," Tenma replied, "There I can make up stuff out of my mind and make it feel as real as I want it..."

"Now that does interest me a good deal," Cologne remarked, "This...friend of yours, the one who taught you...she has the ability to traverse the space between worlds, to enter and leave this...subspace as you call it?"

"Yep," Tenma replied, "Her name is Fiber, and she used to be a bad guy, but she turned good when she saw just how bad her side could get. Turns out she used to be a regular human lady before the bad guys turned her into what she is today, a Bioroid, which is kind of like an android, only living."

"Curioser and Curioser," Cologne softly mused, "Why don't you explain it all to me from the beginning, young Master."

So Tenma did just that, giving a terse account of all that had occurred from the time that the Iczers showed up at the dojo to the attack that drew them into subspace, and then him waking up alone in the strange gray pseudo-world where reality was malleable and his will and imagination could be forged into a deadly weapon. He outlined the circumstances under which he and Fiber had met, then the strange friendship they had formed together, leading up to her consenting to train him, then concluding with the decision to return to the real world so that Tenma could at last be reunited with his parents.

"Fascinating," Cologne remarked when she had time to sit tea, sit back and reflect on all that she had just heart, "So...you haven't had time as yet to show your parents what you can do?"

"Not yet," Tenma replied, "But when Pop sees what I can do he's gonna be so surprised...!"

"That would be a given," Cologne set down her tea and examined the earnest young man with a knowing expression, "I'm curious, though, that you should believe that you have been gone for a month while in real time it seems only a matter of days have passed in your absence...more curious because your parents did not appear to notice that you were absent. Indeed, your mother expressed surprise, you say, as if she had just seen a version of you go rushing off towards school just before your arrival?"

"Yeah," Tenma paused before asking, "You think maybe I'm back in the right reality? Fiber said that there's lots of possible alternate worlds existing side-by-side each other, and some are so close alike that you'd never even know you crossed over."

"That is a possibility not to be discounted," Cologne conceded, more and more impressed with how readily the young man seemed to grasp concepts that were beyond the scope of even some elders, "Perhaps there is another version of you running around in the neighborhood, in which case it might not be wise for one of you to cross paths with the other."

"You think so, Baba?" Tenma asked quizzically, "Gee...that could get to be a mess, huh? I mean, I wouldn't want to be messing things up for the me who lives here...I mean...if this ain't the here that I'm from...did that make sense to you?"

"I'll try and pretend that it does," Cologne hid a smile at the boy's understandable confusion, "On the other hand...there is another possibility which you may wish to consider...namely that you are in the right world and time, but that there may be a different version of you who is not all that he appears to be."

"Huh?" Tenma blinked, "What makes you say that?"

"Just a feeling I have," Cologne replied, "And when you get to be my age you learn to trust your feelings. I saw another version of you running home from school just the other day, and-curiously enough-this version of you went around the block instead of stopping in to pay your usual visit. I was sufficiently piqued about this to investigate further...and I had the oddest sense when I saw this other you that he was not entirely...right somehow. I can't put it into concrete words, but I think that you may have to look this other you up after all to determine if he is the genuine article."

"You mean...he might be a fake?" Tenma went pale, "Oh no...Fiber warned me about something like this. She said her old boss has servants who can copy themselves into regular people...Doppelgangers, I think she called them..."

"Indeed?" Cologne's gaze sharpened, "Substitutions who look and sound like the people whom they imitate...yet inside they are something altogether alien. My great-great granddaughter, Perm, was in a few days ago and confided in me about how her brother and sister were taken and replaced with such substitutes. This is most alarming indeed...it could mean that the same ones responsible for their absence have arranged for your own substitution, young Master."

"Holy Kami!" Tenma straightened up, "What am I gonna do about this, Baba? If there's been another me running around all this time..."

"The question is what will WE do, Son of Saotome," Cologne replied, picking up her staff with a look of determination, "It seems that I will be closing up early and disappointing my usual customers, but this matter is far more urgent. I swore to my great-granddaughter that I would not interfere in the affairs of her family unless it were a matter of life and death, but with my great-great-  
grandchildren imperiled I have no choice at all in the matter, and if this other version of you can provide even a clue as to where they have gone..."

"So where do we find this fake me?" Tenma growled, outraged at the thought that someone else might have been sleeping in his bed, playing with his things and messing around with his family and friends, making who knew what kind of trouble for everyone whom Tenma cared about.

"Where else does one find a convincing substitute but to look in the place where you would be in his place?" Cologne answered, "Your school will make an excellent starting point, and when we find this miscreant..."

"POW!" Tenma mimicked a fist-to-palm gesture, "We let him have it, right Baba?"

"After we ask him the question," Cologne advised, "But if he gives us any trouble...well...you already know that I can be **very** persuasive..."

"I'm coming!" a voice frantically called out through the door of the comfortable townhouse in the Jubaan district, one moment before there came a loud, "WHOOOP!" followed promptly by a crashing noise as a body went colliding with a hall closet, followed by a hat-rack falling and a number of other items spilling out from a haphazard storage.

Seconds after this the door flew open and a bright and cheerful blonde woman with two long odango-like ponytails framing a face of ageless beauty said a merry, "Hi guys! What are you doing here on this side of town?"

The women gathered on her porch just smiled indulgently at their nominal leader, then the one named Rei said, "Same old Usagi...some things just never change..."

"Hello, Riceball-head," the tall blonde woman in man's dress said politely, "Have you got a moment to spend with your old friends?"

"Of course I do, Haruka-chan," Usagi chided, "I've always got time for you. What's up? Why are you being so formal?"

"We have a matter that needs to be discussed," said the beautiful green-haired Michiru with her usual ladylike demeanor, "It's about our children, and we think it's very important."

"Huh?" Usagi asked, "Rini and the others? What are they up to this time?"

"That's just the thing that we would like to find out," said the blue-black haired Doctor Ami Mizuno, "We've each tried asking our daughters, but they tend to be evasive in giving their answers, even my little Yumi, who isn't exactly the most closed lipped person that I could name at the moment..."

"Our kids just say that they've been getting into some new kind of extra-  
curricular activity, like a sporting event or something like that," said the towering amazon known as Makoto Kino, "But it's like all the other kids are attending the same events at the exact same time..."

"Yeah," said Minako Aino-Kino, "It's downright uncanny, and we're all starting to see a common pattern."

"A pattern?" Usagi asked as she ushered her friends into her house, "What, like you think they're keeping secrets from us or something?"

"Figure it out for yourself, Bunny-rabbit," Rei affectionately chided, "They've been staying out late and coming back home at all kinds of odd hours. Remember when we used to do things like that behind the backs of our parents?"

"In other words," Haruka concluded, "We think they're mixed up in some new kind of Senshi business."

"Senshi business?" Usagi asked as she sat down at the tea-table in her living room, offering some crackers and tea that she had already set out in advance of this impromptu meeting, "You mean there's a new enemy and they haven't thought to tell us about it?"

"That is exactly what we think is going on," Ami replied, "A new kind of enemy, and one that they have felt compelled to tackle on their own without bothering to consult us."

"We know that Reiko and Meiko have been getting into fights in and around their schools," Makoto revealed as she sat down next to her wife, Minako, "And there's plenty of evidence of some major high-level damage to property both there and at an arcade in the Furinkan area, but no witnesses can give a halfway believable account for how they got damaged, like someone went to the trouble of covering it up or something."

"Making people forget and causing immediate repairs to be effected are sure signs that our old friends from the MIB have been in the area," Michiru noted.

"But they know their neuralizer pens won't work on us Senshi," Haruka further noted, "Which means that whatever happened, Karma and the others would definitely know all about it."

"And they haven't felt like confiding in any of us," Minako concluded, "Which means that it's some kind of personal affair, one they don't feel like sharing with their own parents."

"I see," Usagi remarked as she thought this over, "Now that you mention it, Rini has been acting a bit odd lately...almost like the way she was acting that time that she was carrying on that secret affair with Helios, back when we tangled with the Dark Moon Circus."

"How odd do you mean?" Makoto asked.

"Real odd," Usagi covered her mouth and gasped, "Like...she had a new boyfriend...and maybe one who's been coming onto her without either me or Mamoru-chan being any the wiser!"

"So you see?" Rei pointed out, "And get this...me and Ryoga-kun got visited recently by his outer-space cousin, Inspector P, and he spills the beans to us that Yui and her friends have gotten mixed up into some kind alien invasion that hasn't even been mentioned by the local papers."

"Hardly surprising with MIB on the job," Ami pointed out.

"So you see why we're all so worried now, Riceball head?" Haruka asked, "That's why we need to pool our resources and get to the bottom of this right away."

"We were hoping to confront our children and see if one or more of them might be persuaded to confide in us," Michiru added, "Which you can do if you compel Rini and the others to attend a Senshi council."

"Of course I'll do whatever I can to help out, guys," Usagi replied, "But the kids are at school and Mamoru is out of town on business, and this is kind of short notice and everything. Um...what about Setsuna and Hotaru?"

"As far as we know their daughter isn't involved in any of this," Ami responded.

"But that could change rapidly if we don't do something to nip this in the butt right away," Minako added, "So what about it, Usagi-chan? Will you convene a council?"

"All right," Usagi said, "I will...how about in the great hall just after the end of classes?"

"That should prove more than sufficient," Michiru nodded, glancing at Haruka and adding, "And it will be good to finally get the truth from Karma over what she's been doing that's been making her act so elusive."

"She'd better not be seeing anyone I wouldn't approve of without my permission," Haruka scowled, "I wouldn't want some...guy to think he could take advantage of our little girl like that..."

"Oh, Haruka-chan," Michiru chided, "Just because she may have had sex is no reason to fly off the handle...and remember what you were like when you were her age?"

"A little too well," Haruka winced, "Why do you think I'm so worried?"

"So," Usagi stood up, "I'll get the Council meeting ready. Who's going to deliver the news to the kids?"

"Not to worry," Rei winked, "I've got my better half and my other self already on the job, she'll be passing the word around just as soon as I give her the signal..."

At that precise moment, across town and just outside of the Furinkan campus, another identical Rei was sneezing up a storm, only to halt and rub her nose with a sourly voiced, "Stupid hayfever..."

"Are you sure that's all it is, Rei-chan?" her husband asked in some concern.

"Yes, I'm sure of it," Rei attempted to reassure him, "Probably my other half giving me the none-too-subtle hint that Usagi's approved our little plan and wants us to gather our kids together."

"Oh," Ryoga replied, then paused before adding, "Do you think we may find out who the guy is that she's been seeing lately? The one who made her stay out late last night?"

"Calm down, Tiger," Rei tried to reassure him, "You're starting to sound like an overprotective father."

"And how can you be an overprotective dad these days?" Ryoga reasoned back, "Somebody broke my little girl's heart, and if I find out who he is, I'm going to make sure he knows what it means to mess with a Hibiki."

"I'm sure if anyone's face needs rearranging that our little Yui will be able to do it by herself," Rei patted her husband on the shoulder, "Let's just sit back and wait until they recess for lunch, then we can tell both Yui and Yumi that they're wanted for a Senshi council. That ought to shake them up enough to get them to spill the beans about what they've been up to."

"All right," Ryoga shrugged his shoulders to help relieve some of the stress he was feeling, "But if it turns out to be Kuno Godai, I won't be held responsible..."

"You won't have to be," Rei assured him, "If it comes to that, then I'll kick his ass all the way back to his pretty-boy mansion."

"Hmmm," Ryoga mused, "It might be kinder if I did it, you really know where to kick a man to make it hurt."

"Of course, Silly," Rei smirked, "I've been married to you for the last eighteen years, and I've had plenty of practice."

"Yeah, I know I...huh?" Ryoga blinked, shielded his eyes, then pointed towards the roof of the main school building, "Am I imagining it, Rei-chan...or does it seem to you like there's somebody up there near the clock tower."

"Huh?" Rei shielded her own eyes in order to look, then she replied, "Hey, you're right...they look like...statues or robots or something...but what the hell are they doing up there?"

"I don't know," Ryoga frowned, "But somehow I don't think that they're the new school mascots..."

It was approaching the lunch hour and high above Furinkan High a gathering of Iczelion robots was convened for a special "war-council" session, held exclusively by the three Iczelions currently assigned to partner with their respective human pilots, those pilots being the ones who were partnered with Iczers.

One of them-the green hued Iczelion (currently assigned to Saotome Sakura)-  
was humming to itself in an bioelectronic sing-song that could only be followed by others of its kind. To the human ears it might seem like a shrill form of low-pitched static, but to the other Iczelions it sounded more like, "This is most distressing news. The Defender has elected to assign one of our order to serve as the companion to the new human partner of Atros."

"An Iczelion...assigned to a MALE Terran?" the orange-hued Iczelion (currently assigned to one Yui Hibiki) responded, "Such a thing has never happened before, it is hardly conceivable that a man would have the ability to bond with an Iczer, let alone an Iczelion Robo-unit."

"Inconceivable and yet it has occurred," the third Iczelion-Unit Sixty-Nine (currently assigned to serve and protect Muku Dori Senzenen)-remarked in dry observation, "Obviously there will have to be modifications to the basic design, but the unit is being grown even as he process this new data."

"These are very strange times within which we have been called to live," the Green Iczelion remarked, "Things are changing even as we make this analysis, and who knows where this war between Gold and our Masters will lead us?"

"We can only wait and see," the Orange Iczelion replied, "And until they call upon us, our duty is but to observe and report these events as they transpire."

"Easy to say," Unit Sixty-Nine remarked, "Much harder to put into practice. In fact, I...one moment! Incoming transmission. I believe we are about to be greeted by our new brother Iczelion unit."

One moment later a shimmering outline of light arrived, and then a blue-hued armored figure addressed the other three Iczelion robots, "This is Unit Seventy-  
two reporting in, assigned to shadow-watch subject designate Tofu Ken. This unit is online and ready for action."

The other three Iczelions immediately sized up this late-arrival, noticing subtle changes in the basic form and function of this new armor, most notably the size, which was at least ten to fifteen centimeters taller than any of the other units present. In a wholly artificial way they each gave this new arrival the equivalent of a dubious expression.

"You are bonded to a male-type partner?" the green Unit 70 wondered.

"Human males have different external plumbing and anatomical construction," the blue unit replied in tones that sounded almost defiantly human, "My pattern was adjusted to accommodate these requirements."

"But you have not yet been introduced to your new partner," the orange-colored Unit 71 noted with a faint hint of distaste, "Until you bond and actuate with his genetic pattern you are not fully on line and ready for combat."

"This unit has been synctized specifically to fit his genetic pattern," Unit 72 said testily, "All that is required will be formal activation and we will form a fully functioning Iczelion combat unit."

"We have no doubt that your abilities have been matched to your mission requirements," Unit 69 said in tones which were more placating, "But does Ken-  
unit know that you have been assigned to him and will respond if called?"

"Not yet," Unit 72 replied with a bit more hesitation in its voice, "But this unit intends to rectify this as soon as Subject Ken is free to access. This unit will continue to depend on your expertise to alert us all should there be a crisis requiring full integration."

"Then we are all subject to the whims of the fates," Unit 70 remarked in a somewhat more conciliatory tone of modulation, "Because the timing of the next assault will be at the discretion of the enemy and not our own choosing."

"We have but to wait for battle and it will come to us," Unit 71 agreed, "Just be ready to pull your weight when the time comes to give battle."

"That is my function and design," Unit 72 agreed, "In which case I will yield to your experience in prior dealings with the enemy, Sixty-Nine unit."

"I fear that prior experience will do little to prepare us for..." Unit 69 began to relate when he stopped and began processing new information, then related, "The school lunch period is beginning. Our human partners are being released from their classes to attend to fuel consumption."

"Then let us all listen in and probe to see if we may be of any further assistance to our partners," Unit 70 agreed as all four units-even 72-  
amplified their sensory collectors and began to focus upon the specific portion of the school yard onto which their human counterparts were presently located, moving off from the main building in order to consume their lunch together and away from the prying ears of their fellow students...

"...Look," Yumi was saying as a matter of course, "I'm just saying that you should feel free to confide in us, your friends, if you have anything that you'd like to ask about being a student here at Furinkan, anything at all, it won't be any problem."

"Thank you," Rhea replied, "You are most helpful. In truth there are many things about this place which puzzle me greatly, but I was hoping that I could turn to you, Muku-chan, for any immediate answers."

"Ah...no problem with me," Muku replied, "If you want to ask Yumi, or Yui or anyone else anything you like, feel free to do so. It's not like I own the place or get better grades than they do..."

"Oh, don't be modest," Sakura remarked coolly, "I'm sure your **friend** here just wants any excuse that she can find to spend more time with you...anything for a partner, right Yui?"

"Huh?" the other girl asked with a somewhat distracted air about her, "Oh...um...yeah...I guess. A partner...heh...don't know what to do with or without one of those..."

"Hah?" Muku blinked, glancing at her other friends, "What are you two talking about?"

"That is what I would like to know," Perm mused, "It would seem that you are not the only one here who has been keeping secrets from others, Muku-san."

"Secrets?" Muku repeated.

"You know," Yumi chided, "About the Iczers and you being the co-pilot to one of those giant robot thingies of theirs. You don't need to keep any of that away from the rest of us, Muku-chan, Sakura and Yui both know first hand what it's like to ride in one of those big buggers."

"You do?" Muku repeated.

Both Sakura and Yui favored Yumi with matching tart expressions as the former responded, "Well...that is something I have been intending to bring up. You see...ah...well...that is..."

"That you are on more-than-familiar terms with that silver haired Troi?" Perm deduced for her, "And she has coopted you into helping her to pilot her huge mecha?"

"Whaa-aat?" Muku reacted, turning to stare in amazement at her friend, "Sakura-  
chan?"

"You didn't know?" Yumi blinked as Sakura flinched slightly, "She and that Troi girl are a definite item. I caught them lounging about the Onasen exchanging backrubs the other day, and those C'thuwulf guys say that its because of her that Troi's Iczer-Robo is sporting a new Spatula strapped across its huge back."

"Sakura-chan?" Muku halted in mid-step to stare at her other best friend, "You and...Troi?"

"Well...it's not like that...I mean...not what you...ah...that is..." Sakura fidgeted slightly.

"You're fucking her, okay?" Yui snapped indelicately at the other girl, "Just because it embarrasses you is no reason to get all hyper and flustered..."

"Huh?" Sakura frowned, "You're a fine one to talk! What about you and that maniac, Nova? Don't tell me you were just holding hands while you were traveling all over the place inside her Iczer-Robo!"

"Wait a minute!" Muku protested, turning to Yui, "I thought you'd been kidnapped by that redhead...?"

"I was kidnapped!" Yui insisted, "That hussy grabbed me out of the school bathroom and before I knew it I was stuck in one of those capsules stark naked with tubes all over my body!"

"Yeah, for the next six or seven hours," Yumi noted, "Trust the Hibiki curse to get the both of you lost in one of those robots, and don't try to kid me that all you two did was play sight-see..."

"It wasn't like that!" Yui protested, only to pause before adding, "Um...mostly..."

"I see," mused Perm, "Then perhaps you might clarify something that has been puzzling me...exactly what sort of relationship is implied by the word 'Partner?'"

"Oh, that's easy," Yumi explained, "It means that they're each soul-bonded to an Iczer."

"Soul...bonded?" Muku had a creeping hunch that her worst suspicions were about to be confirmed.

"Yes," Rhea explained for her, "It is much like with us...and the reason why I am always aware of you no matter where you are or what you are doing, Muku-chan. Our souls have been linked together and where one of us ends the other becomes her extension."

"Yeah, but the way the C'thuwulf explained it to me made it sound more like you guys were married," Yumi added.

"MARRIED?" Muku, Sakura and Yui all cried together.

"Hush," Perm urged, "Keep your voice down. There may be a few parties at the far end of the track field who did not hear you just declare that."

"Married?" Yui seemed flustered, "To that-that...that...no way!"

"No formal vows were exchanged on my end either," Sakura replied, "But...Troi did explain that we are...kind of stuck with one another..." her tone dwindled off as she turned to look off into the distance.

"Let me see if I understand you properly," Ken spoke up so suddenly that Sakura nearly jumped out of her skin from surprise, "An Iczer finds a human with whom they are well-matched on a psychic and biophysical level...and they form a bond together that is both spiritual and physical? And they call this process Synchronization?"

"Don't do that!" Sakura whipped out her spatula and threatened to use it, "Give me some warning before you sneak up on me, you...you two-timing pervert!"

"Now wait a moment, Sakura-chan," Ken raised his hands in a disarming manner, "You were the one who cheated on me first by bonding with that...Troi, as she calls herself, right?"

"Ah..." Sakura lowered her spatula a bit as she thought some more about it.

"And don't tell me you haven't been sleeping with her behind my back," Ken persisted with a knowing, accusatory expression.

"Ah-well...I wouldn't call it 'sleeping' per se..." Sakura hastily amended.

"So, when I bonded with Atros last night, and I talked with her to get to know more about her," Ken persisted, "It was with the plain understanding that I was an innocent being drawn into this world that you've already been immersed in for days. Atros has only recently been purged of the brainwashing that was inflicted on her by their enemies, which means that she was in a highly fragile state of mind when you called her a 'Thieving Bitch'..."

"Ah..." Sakura winced, "I...might have been a bit hasty when I said that..."

"Well, I didn't cheat on you, but you've gone a lot farther than me with your cute alien hotie," Ken pointed out, "So...which of us here has the better reason to be jealous and angry?"

"Wait a minute!" Muku turned to Sakura, "You've...been having...sex...with Troi?"

"What do you know?" Yumi smiled, "You've finally figured it out."

"And you..." Muku turned an equally incredulous look upon Yui, "...you slept with a girl who kidnapped you and used you like a spare part in her giant robot?"

"We didn't sleep!" Yui protested, then winced, "But...um...well...we did kind of...but it was mostly her doing it to me!"

"And I am certain that you were kicking and screaming about it all the way," Perm said dryly.

"They are synchronized, Muku-chan," Rhea explained, "Sister Grey explained to me that a device used in Nova's Iczer Robo to attempt to bridge the Biorhythm disparity between the both of them somehow malfunctioned and instead adjusted Nova's internal Bio-signature to recalibrate her so that she Synchronized with your friend Yui."

"What?" Muku turned to her own partner, "Can't they fix that?"

"Fix it?" Rhea blinked before understanding, "Oh...ah...no, not quite. They don't think that the process is reversible, at least...not without doing considerable traumatic damage to Nova. There is indeed a psychic bond linking the both of them together...they are...partners for life, for better or for worse. I'm sorry...but I am afraid you two are...as the humans say...stuck with one another."

"Welcome to the club," Ken remarked as he noticed how Yui flinched at that statement, "Seems like all four of us are in the same boat. Sister Grey was pretty insistent that I should get used to the idea that I'm pretty much stuck with her granddaughter...or she's stuck with me, whichever way you'd care to look at it..."

"So sorry am I if that has proven to be a burden for you," yet another unexpected voice said as Atros stepped out from the concealment of some nearby bushes.

"Ah...I didn't mean it to sound like..." Ken hastily started to say when he saw the black-haired Iczer raise her hand and smile in a disarming manner.

"I know," she said with complete understanding in her expression, "And I think that the term which you intended to use was...that we are-for better or worse-  
-stuck with one another."

"You...?" Muku saw the other Iczer standing there in street clothing, then turned to Rhea with a questioning expression.

"Muku-chan," Rhea replied, "This is my sister, Kano Atros. Tofu Ken is her partner..."

"I'm glad that you are charitable enough to acknowledge our kinship, Sister," Atros said, turning to Muku, "I know that you remember me from when I attacked you in that dress shop...I never did have the opportunity to make amends with you for my rude behavior. Suffice that I am not the same Iczer that you remember, and I ask that you find it in your heart to forgive what I was, that I might have the chance to prove to you that I am sincerely remorseful for my bad conduct, including my ill-conceived attempt on your life, my Sister."

"I've already forgiven you, Atros," Rhea replied, "And I know Muku-chan will in time understand and forgive, isn't that right, Muku-chan?"

"Ah...well...I..." Muku hesitated.

"Oh, give her time," Yumi said, "Muku-chan's a very forgiving person when you get to know her. I'm sure a little thing like you attempting to horribly murder us all after sticking one of those lightsaber things through her girlfriend won't put a permanent halt to any future chances of friendship between us."

"Why should it?" Perm remarked, "That sort of thing is par for the course around Nerima..."

"Hey wait! Time out!" Muku pleaded, "How did all of this happen anyway? You guys...my friends, all that's happened over the last week or so...this war you guys brought with you!" she turned to Atros and then Rhea, "This all started because of you! How come everything is going crazy all around me?"

"Muku-chan?" Rhea sounded surprised at the outburst.

"I DON'T UNDERSTAND ANYTHING THAT'S GOING ON AROUND HERE!" Muku protested, "How did you guys get drawn into all this? Because of ME? Was it because you're my friends that you're going through all of this with me? HOW DID ALL OF THIS HAPPEN?"

"Why ask why?" Atros wondered, "You could drive yourself mad asking such a question."

"I think it may too late for that," Perm remarked, "I fear friend Muku may be approaching the limits of her forbearance."

"Muku-chan," Rhea said, "Your emotions...they feel so confused...have I done something to offend you?"

"Maybe," Muku scowled, then impulsively she reached out and grabbed the Iczer by a wrist, "Come with me, and don't any of the rest of you dare try to follow me! This is between me and my so-called 'Girlfriend!'"

It was a confused and much disturbed Rhea who allowed herself to be drawn away while the rest of their small band stood around and watched them leave together. Sakura was the first to break her silence with a nonplussed, "What was that all about?"

"Trouble in paradise," Perm sighed, "The storm has finally broken, but will it spell and end or a new beginning? I fear that is a question to which even the Gods must stand in silence..."

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Crisis Management between Partners: shadowmane

It's Tenma against Tenma while Muku and Rhea have a personal discussion that could mean the end of their partnership, while Usagi and the older Senshi call a meeting of their children, and Iczer Two makes plans to bring the war against Gold to the doorstep of the enemy, all that and the further relationship woes of Yui and Nova as the day moves to the final confrontation of Venomoids and Iczers in, "Strangers in Parasites," or, "The Woad of Crime Bears bitter Weevils!" Be there!

X

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	32. Chapter 32

Earthchild32

The Earthchild

(A Ranma/Sailor Moon/Iczer Crossover)

(Featuring characters and situations created by Rumiko Takahashi, Naoko Takeuchi, Toshihiro Hirano,  
&amp; Hitoshi Okuda, with ideas and suggestions by TH Tiger and Johannes Huber)

Chapter Thirty-Two.

The defensive field surrounding the C'thuwulf was a strong inversional barrier that could not be penetrated by any ordinary, conventional means. It was permeable by the Iczers and the C'thuwulf themselves, but only because they were attuned to the right frequency for their transits through the subspace channel. Teleporting to and from their city and base was relative childsplay for anyone who was already logged into their relay net. So long as you were a match for the right genetic and energy profile you could come and go freely without triggering the alarms and defensive protocols, but anything that did not meet the right specifications was instantly repelled regardless of the force employed to attempt penetration.

Rather a lot like the ultimate in contraceptive protection, an almost infallible shield that would resist even the forces that an enemy such as Big Gold might bring into play, and one very good reason why she had to work through subtlety and misdirection, or by attempting to create a cataclysmic crisis that would either bring the shields down or else cause such widespread property damage that the very foundations underneath the city of New Gamora would destroyed, effectively taking the C'thuwulf base out without actually penetrating their defenses.

Diabolical really, and altogether unnecessary. All one needed to do in order to penetrate the C'thuwulf shields was to be a Weaver of energy patterns, one capable of seeing in patterns and manipulating energy fields into whatever form could be intuitively perceived. Such a talent was beyond the capacities of even Big Gold and her ilk, but not beyond the means of one who had been raised to be a Weaver, and with the training that she had just received her powers of manipulation were stronger than they had ever been. All she needed to do was to wait patiently and to observe the comings and goings of various parties, and-  
when the moment was right-to improvise by duplicating a certain energy pattern so that she could pass harmlessly through the barrier and arrive on the other side with no one the wiser.

Thus did Fiber enter the laboratory complex of Gamora base, materializing inside a highly secured chamber where her senses had unerringly guided her, the room containing three bodies laid out on three tables, each of these bodies the subject of a highly intensive series of sensory probes monitoring their bodily functions while maintaining them in a state of relative stasis. They were not within regenerative tubes like normal patients, being of an entirely different biophysical nature, and the fact that they were operational at all was itself something of a minor miracle. In essence they had been terminated and brought back from beyond the grave, repaired in body and purged of all traces of the Gold Virus but still effectively blank slates without their core programming, mere zombies waiting for the command word to be revived at which point they would visit all manner of horror upon their nominal captors.

But not if Fiber had anything to say about it! To her these were fellow victims of Gold's evil, the dreaded Sisters of the Comet who had made their names a legend in horror. Each of them had the blood of entire worlds upon their hands, and each was what Neos Gold had made them to be, mere weapons and tools, engines of death and destruction, the sole survivors of their respective worlds...

...And soon to be avengers for the legions of the dead whom once upon a time they so casually did murder.

Extending her hands towards these three bodies, Fiber caused her namesake to lash out and engulf both the bodies and the monitoring equipment, immediately overriding the C'thuwulf security protocols and all attending monitoring equipment to insure that there would be no interference as she went to work repairing the damage done to those who were as much victims as the young girl she had used to be so very long ago. Each of them had lives that had been stolen from them by their true enemies, and each would now be born again in a baptism of fire that would cleanse the world that was their home.

Big Gold would pay for her crimes, and when payment came down the Sisters of the Comet would be there to collect...in spades...!

Moments later Nova Kano looked up from her cot, having fallen asleep after exhausting herself with repeated efforts at self-liberation. There was a peculiar disturbance that she was feeling in the space very close to her isolation chamber, and it had a very odd, almost familiar ring to it. She extended her senses and felt something soften and yield in the protective barrier surrounding her, like an opening wedge that she could almost fit a hand through if she pushed a little.

"At last," she murmured to herself as she mentally pushed against the weakening space of the field, sensing that Subspace itself was beckoning to her as she smiled, "Yui-chan...I'm coming for you..."

And then she vanished utterly in a haze of pixilation...

"Another boring field trip," Tenma sighed as he stared at the bones of a large dead reptile from the pre-Jurassic era, "You think they could warn us about things like this, but no...they have to make it a surprise, like it was a gift they were giving us or something..."

"Now Ten-chan," Yuki Taro softly chided, "You should know better than to say a thing like that. The Dinosaurs have a lot to teach us about biology and evolution..."

"Yeah, like how to go extinct," Tenma sniffed.

"More like how not to go extinct you mean," Yuki pointed out, "After all, they existed for millions of years, then almost overnight they vanished, and whether it was from a meteor strike or a plague that wiped them out, you can bet they never saw it coming. That tells us a lot about why we ought to be alert about things which could threaten our future survival..."

"Maybe," Tenma said, though at the moment he was not thinking of any meteor strike, a chilling sense coming over him that the fate of humanity could well be a lot closer at hand than any human actually suspected.

"Come on, don't be like that," Yuki urged, "You can't tell me that you can look on something as huge and impressive as this without being even a little bit affected. I always find it so amazing that something this big could have walked the earth so very long ago, and this museum is full of stuff that tells us a lot about the history of this planet."

Tenma eyed the girl beside him, intrigued at the way in which she professed such wry enthusiasm for a bunch of dead fossils. Almost he could feel some of her enthusiasm just by watching the way she went on about these relics. Of course the reference to size mattering...he could not help but wonder what she would think if she were standing next to an Iczer-Robo...

"Size don't really matter much," he said more from rote than from any irony on his part, "It's what you do with it that counts..."

"Oh, so are you saying that you'd apply jiu-jitsu to a creature this big and expect him to actually feel it?" Yuki asked with that annoying habit she had of turning a question around at him to suggest a different perspective.

"Well...maybe not," he reluctantly conceded, "But if something like this tripped over its own two feet, its own size would work against it, and it would really hurt when it fell over."

"So, in other words, size does matter," she smiled, "And the bigger you are the harder it hurts when you fall, right?"

"Uh...yeah," he reluctantly admitted, feeling conflicted once again at the way in which she neatly tied him into verbal knots while looking so damned smug and pretty about it. He didn't know whether he wanted to spank her for that or...or...or...uh-um...whatever...

"That's a very good way of combining the philosophy of the martial arts with archeology, don't you think?" she persisted in that super-annoyingly kawaii way she had of rubbing his nose in a point, "And you still insist that this stuff is boring?"

"Well..." Tenma rubbed the back of his head as he tried to think of some kind of intelligent answer that didn't sound as if it were well outside the intellectual capacity of the boy he was supposed to be impersonating, "I guess maybe there's some stuff that ain't completely boring...like maybe it's all how you go about approaching it or...something like that."

"Very good," she nodded her head up and down as though he had just said something enormously important, "So if you really think about it, there is a lot that we can learn by studying the past, such as all the methods of survival that have been tried before, some working out better than other ways, while some only lead to an evolutionary dead end, at which point nature just gives up and tries something all over."

"Nature ain't exactly like a person, you know," Tenma said stubbornly, "It don't really make mistakes like it could think about what it was doing or stuff..."

"And how would you know?" she asked with a twinkling in her eyes, "I was speaking metaphorically, but if you think about it, Nature is like a great intelligent goddess, one who makes mistakes all the time but keeps on trying to learn from her errors in the hopes that she may one day get it just right. Evolution isn't a finished process, you know, it inches along in the hope that there can always be something better..."

"Ain't better like a value?" Tenma asked, "Don't really seem like nature cares one way or the other if we survive, like it values people over cows or rates..."

"And yet is there any other creature besides human beings who can dream about going to the stars, then build machines to actually do it?" Yuki asked, "Why else would nature endow us with the ability to improve ourselves if we weren't the product of a gradual process of universal self-improvement? Take the martial arts, for example...you can do things other boys your age can only dream about, so why is that if you weren't the end product of countless generations of your ancestors resulting in someone like you? Or is it only your training that makes you someone special?"

"Um...both, I guess..." Tenma said as he thought about it, silently conceding that the girl had a very good point about evolution being a continuous process of adaptation and self-improvement. In fact there was a lot about Yuki Taro herself that seemed both superior and special when contrasted with other young girls their own age. She was smart and had a really nice smile, and she was really, really pretty, not at all like her thick-witted and slightly older brother, as if she had gotten all the brains and looks in her family, a fact that made her seem like the superior product of a long line of gradual evolution.

Of course, there was one major difference between the gradual course of natural selection and the course of human evolution where he had the inside track and was at a definitely advantage over Yuki and most terrestrial humans. He knew that the human race had been ceded on the Earth nearly a half a million years ago and had-in fact-displaced the early forms of proto-humans that had existed at the time, marrying into the line of Homo Erectus and gradually becoming the dominant life-form on the planet thanks to the advantage afforded by the genetic tampering of their long-distant ancestors...

"So, which is it then?" she asked him coyly, "Are you a self-made boy, or is it just good genes that deserve the credit?"

"Hah?" he asked, feeling certain this time that she had lost him.

"For you being the way you are?" she asked, somehow contriving to move closer to him, so close, in fact, that Tenma could smell the odd perfume-like odor of her body, even as he found himself staring at her face and committing every facet to memory, right down to the genetic level, where he compared her genes to his own in a silent appraisal.

"For being...the way I am?" Tenma could not quite figure that part out, even as he made the surprising deduction that her genes were compatible with his own...and why the heck was he thinking about a thing like that all of a sudden?

"Sure," she said, "Smart, strong, good looking, kind...you're a pretty nice guy, when you're not acting like a jerk or reminding me of my brother."

Tenma found himself growing very flush as a confusing wave of contrary emotions washed over his senses, even as he protested, "I ain't nothing like your brother..."

"I know," she smiled more deeply, "Why do you think I like you so much? Honma never thinks as much as you do about someone else's opinions, and he mistakes being strong for his size as an excuse to do whatever he wants, but you're not like that, are you, Ten-chan?"

"Ahhh..." he suddenly found himself bereft of the capacity to intelligently answer such a question...but, then again, he always felt lost when he found himself staring into her eyes and marveling that such a quixotic and confusing creature could ever be thought of as 'inferior' to any other life-form in his data records. She made him feel so tied-up in knots somehow, and yet-for the life of him-he could not honestly say that it was an entirely unpleasant sensation...

He belatedly realized that they were wandering off from the rest of their classmates, falling behind as he gravitated to Yuki's orbit like some wandering comet trapped up in the gravity well of another planetary body. He had become so distracted by the girl's verbal jousting that he had failed to notice until that moment, but...then again...he could not think of another student whom he'd rather wander as lost as this with, like some clueless member of clan Hibiki.

He started to point this out to her by saying, "Um...we'd better hurry up if we don't want to get lost from our group..."

"Who says that we'll be lost?" she ably countered, leaving him even more confused than ever.

"Uh...but...I wouldn't want you getting into any trouble..." he started to say when she turned to him and brought her face in close to his, then planting a kiss on his cheek without warning.

"We won't get into any trouble," she assured him as she murmured into her ear, "But thanks for worrying more about me than about yourself."

Tenma tried to make his mouth work to frame an answer but found he could not form one intelligent syllable to save his artificial life. His internal processors simply refused to work as certain portions of his brain threatened to shut down in rapid order from the sensory overload caused to him by her unexpectedly affectionate gesture. No way had he seen this coming, in fact...he wanted her to do that to him again...and then he blushed the more furiously at the strange intensity that was occurring to his thinking...

Only the next instant he was surprised by an angry (and familiar) voice snarling, "YOU GET AWAY FROM HER, YOU DAMNED IMPOSTER! WHAT THE HECK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"

"W-what?" Yuki herself seemed no less surprised as Tenma turned around and found himself being confronted by an onrushing boy who looked exactly like Tenma-  
correction-WAS THE REAL TENMA (according to the Doppelganger's acute sensors)-  
-and, more to the point, was looking highly annoyed for some peculiar reason.

"Y-You?" Tenma gasped as he automatically went into defensive mode and dodged a flying kick that would have otherwise nailed him.

"Yes me, you damned imposter!" Tenma declared as he whirled about to confront his lookalike with a series of lightning kicks that forced the other Tenma to dodge and counter, "Who the heck did you think I was? Your evil cousin?"

Yuki stared in amazement as the two Tenmas began to fight in earnest while Cologne arrived just a few seconds afterwards, pausing to study the twin combatants with a calculating eye before saying, "Well...so much for subtlety...but this does look to be a rather interesting encounter..."

"Oh man," Troi grinned as she hovered in Subspace while accessing her memories and playing out files that she projected into the air around her, forming monitor-screens that related the quality picture-images in lifelike detail for her decided amusement, "Gotta hand it to ol' Kenny-boy...he sure knows how to take a picture..."

The picture files that she had coopted from his website were proving to be quite...educational on their primary subject matter...namely Sakura herself, whom Troi was studying in a series of photos dating back well into her infancy. She was amused at the sight of Sakura's baby pictures, as well as other picks from various stages of her life that were forming a gradual profile in Troi's mind of this curious girl who had become her unexpected partner. It seemed that Ken had been very good at snapping photos of his iinazuke when she was off her guard or in some casual disposition, and it was those unguarded moments that Troi found the most illuminating. There were plenty of compromising pictures in which Sakura had been surprised or photographed in either a fully nude or semi-  
nude state of undress, (and Troi certainly enjoyed those pics a LOT) yet it was the pictures of Sakura relaxing or being herself that she found by far the most intriguing. Sakura was very photogenic in all her pictures, but in those casual shots her face was relaxed and showed the widest range of emotional expressions.

"Oooh yeah..." Troi stretched out her fingers to caress the face she saw displayed in one monitor screen then said, "Baby, you are the tops! I really lucked out when you came into my life, little Cherry Blossom. What a Fox you are...and all mine to boot! Can't wait until the next time I can snag you into my little honey-hole, you gorgeous hunk of woman-flesh..."

**TROI!**

The mental call hit her like a slap to her face, causing Troi to automatically dismiss the picture files, straighten up and cry out, "FREL-I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING...!"

**Troi?** the mental voice gushed relief in her direction, **Thank the Kami...where are you? I need you right now!**

"So soon?" Troi blinked, then belatedly sensed that her partner had something else in mind other than hanky-panky, so she mentally called back, **I'm on it, Honey-bunch, just sit still and I'll be there in a flash.**

One moment later she phased back into the real world, homing in on Sakura's physical coordinates so that she was right beside her partner as she turned and said, "Are you okay? Is it another attack? What's...wrong?"

"Troi," Sakura turned to her, "It's Muku and Rhea...you've got to help me find them!"

Troi studied the face of the human girl who was now her partner, seeing yet a new emotional expression that had been absent from many of the photos that Ken had taken, the deep distress of serious worry. At the same time as she registered this she took notice of the others who were with them, finding that Ken and Atros were there, along with the girl named Perm, Yui Hibiki and Yumi Mizuno. She briefly turned her head and gave a curt not to acknowledge their presence, saw the gesture being returned by at least one of the parties, then turned back to Sakura and said in a calmer voice than before, "What happened?"

"Muku found out about the others who have become the partners to you Iczers," Perm answered for her, "It upset her greatly and so she has decided to have a private confrontation with her, one to lay bare the bones of their future relations."

"Huh?" Sakura blinked, then, "Oh...I get it...a resolution point. Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later, guess in their case it had to be sooner than later..."

"You were expecting this to happen?" Ken asked.

"Not in so many words as such," Troi replied, "But I've seen it happen with both of my sisters...sooner or later the partner starts to rebel against the idea that they're bonded to us forever and they get to feeling trapped and cornered. They try to rebel against our linkage and reject us, but...it never lasts for very long. Sooner or later it finally sinks in that we're as much stuck with them as they're stuck with us, which is something you'll have to get used to sooner or later, Sweetheart."

"Oh lovely," Atros sniffed, "You have no idea how thrilled I am to hear that."

"Ah...excuse me?" Ken asked with a somewhat worried expression.

"Are you saying that this partnership thing...that it can't be dissolved once it's been formed?" Yui looked and sounded appalled.

"I'm afraid so, or it's as near to permanent as we can figure," Sakura replied, "Sorry to give you the bad new, you being synchronized and all that, but..."

"This is serious!" Sakura insisted, "You can't just dismiss it as something that they'll get over like it was nothing!"

"I'm not dismissing it, Honey," Troi assured her with a very frank look, "I know full well the sort of pain that they'll both be going through, and Rhea-chan's heart could well wind up being broken if your friend says anything that could really hurt her feelings. Not that I'm putting all the blame on Muku-chan, of course...it's perfectly understandable how she could be feeling a bit dazed about getting dragged into all of this, what with the roller-coaster ride that she's been on since the first attack happened. It ain't fair that any of you kids have to be exposed to all of this the way you've been going lately. Heck, I have expect to have you yelling and screaming at me for dragging you into my world almost literally kicking and screaming, not that I'd give up what we've found together for all the world..."

"Excuse me," Ken said with just a touch of frost in his tone, "But we were talking about Muku?"

"Right, got it, now let me think a moment here," Troi ran her fingers through her snowy white hair and frowned in concentration, "I don't feel my niece anywhere close nearby, but I can sense that she's still within about a ten kilometer radius...but she seems to have turned off her internal directional finder, no doubt so she can have privacy with her partner..."

"Ten kilometers?" Yumi spoke up.

"They were just here a minute ago," Ken remarked in some surprise.

"Ten kilometers in one second is nothing to an Iczer," Atros revealed, "If I wanted to I could be halfway around to the other side of the planet in less than a heartbeat."

"No...wait...they're getting even farther away than that," Troi frowned, "I've got a definite impression that they're on the move somehow, only they're not airborne...that much I can determine..."

"On the move?" Sakura blinked, "Wait a moment...I think I know where Muku-chan is..."

"So do I," Perm remarked, "Ever since we were small children, it was her favorite thing to do whenever faced with personal troubles, it would only make sense for her to go there now when confronted with one too many surprises."

"You mean...?" Yumi blinked, "Oboy...that's sure gonna make it hard for us to follow..."

"Hard for you, maybe," Troi looked right at Atros, "But not so hard if we triangulate her position between the both of us. What do you say, kid? Are you up to it?"

"I am, Mother," Atros affirmed, "I stand ready to help find my wayward sister."

"Then I'm going with you," Sakura volunteered.

Troi gave her partner a frank expression and replied, "Don't you have classes in another few minutes?"

"Screw class," Sakura replied, "This is more important!"

"Oh well," Ken rolled his eyes, "So much for my perfect attendance record..."

"It is nice of you to volunteer," Atros smiled at him, "But I will make better time on my own...and besides...I would not want to be responsible for spoiling your...attendance."

"Then we're coming instead," Yumi said, "Yui, Perm and me...we're Muku's friends too..."

"Sorry guys," Troi said as she reached out to take Sakura by the arm, "This is strictly between partners, no hitchhikers along for this ride."

With that they vanished in a hail of pixilation, only to have Sakura find herself once again naked and in the aqueous environment of Troi's Iczer Robo, with Troi's voice communicating with her with a clarity that made it seem almost telepathic.

"Where to go, Hon? You're the navigator on this trip."

Sakura tried to relax as she settled in once more to curious role as co-pilot and power source, saying simply, "Where we all liked to play when we were young enough to play hooky from our parents...the Tokyo rail system, where riding in cars is as easy skipping through toll booths together..."

Several minutes before this...

Muku had asked that Rhea take them somewhere to be alone, but it surprised her that the Bioroid would know exactly where to teleport, to a place Muku had often been to when life became too complex or too confusing.

The rail car pulled out from the Nerima station and headed due south at an increasing rate of acceleration, gradually hitting its pace within a matter of seconds, which gave Muku sufficient time to grab the nearest handrail in order to support herself, though Rhea hardly seemed troubled at keeping her own footing. The car that they were in was empty, this being the time of the day when commute traffic was reasonably low. There was not another passenger within earshot of the two girls, which meant that they would be afforded the privacy that Muku so desperately needed. What she had to say was not for prying ears, and especially NOT for the ears of her fellow schoolmates.

She turned to see Rhea's large and curious eyes turned towards her, the Bioroid having sensed her mood but not the precise thoughts that motivated her partner to have such a troubled mindset. That look of innocent curiosity might have softened Muku's mindset on other occasions, but this time she was too worked up and agitated to calm down at the sight of Rhea's concerned expression. After all the girl before her was at the center of the maelstrom that had become Muku's life, and she was hardly an innocent when it came to the affairs that were driving Muku to such distraction.

So rather than wait to frame a more reasonable approach to the matter, Muku plunged right in with a direct, "Why didn't you tell me that my friends were getting bonded to your fellow Iczers?"

"I...did not think it was immediately relevant," Rhea replied, "Events have been happening so rapidly of late that I thought it might be wiser to wait until there was more time..."

"Wise?" Muku snapped, "You think it was wise to withhold a thing like this from me? That two of my best friends are now partnered up with both of your alien half-sisters? That Sakura's now bonded to your Aunt of all things? I mean...she must be over twenty, for Kami's sakes..."

"I am sorry," Rhea replied, "I did not know how much such things would upset you..."

"Upset me?" Muku reacted, "Why on earth would it upset me? Just because my friends have gotten dragged into a war that even I can barely figure out? Just because my life's been in danger from one damned thing right after another since the time I met you? Upset? What have I got to be upset about?"

"Ah...well..." Rhea softly murmured, but Muku was not waiting around to hear any explanations.

"And the worst thing is that my friends are having SEX with their partners...and right behind my back!" Muku railed at the ceiling, "You'd think maybe Yumi could have mentioned that to me instead of pestering me about whether or not you and me...if we...whatever! And Sakura...what the hell is she thinking keeping a thing like this to herself? Does she had any idea what her parents are gonna say about that damned engagement to Ken and how this is gonna affect that? And Ken...what's his problem anyway? Why is he all of a sudden shacking up with a girl who tried to blow up our whole school not three or four days ago? Has he also gone crazy?"

'Well...as far as I know, they haven't actually had sex together..." Rhea tried explaining in regards to Ken and Atros.

Muku was so worked up she did not even bother to ask how she knew what Rhea was going to say next, going on to her next concern, a subject which she had been avoiding until this moment, "And Perm...my Goddess...can you even imagine what she must be thinking about all of this right now? Every time I look at her I can't stop thinking about Gel and Godai. Okay, those two were a real pain and I never really liked them, but they're her twin sister and older brother! How can Perm even stand to look at the rest of us without hating us for what may have happened?"

Rhea looked down, "I...know that it must be hard for you, Muku-chan, and they have been in the custody of Big Gold for far too long to hold out any hope...of recovering them alive...but..."

"But the fact is," Muku said, "It's my fault that all of this happened!"

Rhea looked up at her with a confused expression, "Excuse me?"

"All of it," Muku declared, "They all got involved with you C'thuwulf on account of me...because they knew me, and because those damned Venomoids probably took them and did who-knows-what to that pair, and now Perms is walking around like a part of her is dead or something, and meanwhile my so-called friends are carrying on like nothing was the matter! They're even partying it up with your relatives, and everyone is having just a grand old time now that Gel and Godai aren't around to bother anybody..."

"I hardly think that anyone is as happy as all that to see them..." Rhea tried to be reasonable, but Muku would hear none of it.

"All this started because you picked me to be your gods-damned partner," Muku railed, "If they hadn't been associated with me your enemies wouldn't have picked them out and made them a target. Hell, Yui damned near came close to joining them, but instead she was out joy-riding with that Nova maniac! I'm responsible for ruining the lives of my closest and dearest friends, and all because they had to get involved with your siblings and your enemies, so tell me...what am I supposed to do about this to make it all right again?"

"Muku-chan," Rhea insisted, "It is not your fault..."

"No?" Muku replied, "Yes it is! Just because I'm supposed to be the one person you can link with, the lives of everyone around me has to be put in danger! No one's safe as long as they have anything to do with me, not my friends, not my classmates, not even my own parents...my parents! My goddess...they think I'm having an affair with some boy in our school! How the hell am I supposed to explain to them about us?"

"About...us?" Rhea hesitantly asked.

"About...about whatever it is you want...what you want with me," Muku hesitated, then turned fully to Rhea with a look of entreaty, "What do you want from me, Rhea? What could I possibly give to you that could justify all this grief...?"

"I want...I want you to be happy," Rhea answered.

"Well I'm not, in case you didn't notice," Muku sarcastically responded, "I never asked to be chosen, I never asked for any of this! Why am I so special that you have to bond with me and no one else on the entire planet? What do you expect me to give to you that you can't find somewhere else with one of your own friends down there in New Gamora city? Did you scoop me off to sit inside that giant robot of yours because you like the idea of seeing me naked?"

"Ah...well..." Rhea colored slightly, much too shy to elaborate on that particular topic.

"Yeah, you and everybody else in our High School," Muku sniffed, "I used to wonder why Ken was always pirating those photos of me and posting them on his site. Sakura I could understand, but why me? Why am I so popular? What is it about me that makes even my friends want to...to have sex with me? I just don't get it!"

"It...is not an easy thing to explain," Rhea said, "You are...who you are...and everyone who sees you knows that you are a special kind of person, Muku-chan. They sense the warmth that you have to offer, the light that is within your soul..."

"Yeah?" Muku frowned as she ran fingers through her long, dark tresses, unselfconsciously beautiful in her mounting confusion despite the fact that only Rhea was close enough to clearly see it, "Well, I got news for you...I'm nobody special! I'm not some princess from a hidden, far-away Kingdom or some Manga-  
based Idol singer, I'm just me, Muku Dori...I skate for a hobby and practice the martial arts for a living. I'm just a tenth-year high school student who's struggling to get by. I'm not the prettiest girl in our school or even the smartest, I'm just an above-average level athlete and I know a few tricks about using my Ki like a weapon..."

"You are more than that, Muku-chan, more than you know," Rhea insisted, "Your friends can sense it, even if you cannot, and it is the light in your soul that has attracted me to you..."

"Like a moth to the flame, huh?" Muku huffed, "Well screw that, and screw you! What am I, some damned Kewpie doll that everyone gets to fight about? Why did I ever go along with any of this stuff anyway? I'm just a kid...what do I know about saving the world? I never wanted this! I want my old life back!"

"Muku-chan?" Rhea reacted in distress and growing confusion.

"This all started because of you, because you picked me to be your partner," Muku replied, "Well, you want me? Tough! But what gives you the right to follow me around like some kind of lovesick puppy? Is that why you enrolled in my school? So you can now chase me around even when I'm in classes?"

Rhea actually flinched from the tone of accusation in her partner's voice, "But...I thought we could be together more often this way...that we wouldn't have to be apart a part of each day...that I could be a part of your world in the daytime as well as the night..."

"Why?" Muku asked, "Because you want to screw me? Is that what you call it? Sharing pleasures, like...having sex between two girls, that kind of thing?"

"Um...yes," Rhea confessed in a very small voice, "That is a part of it...but..."

"Well, I got new for you, Sister!" Muku flared, "I'm not a lesbian! I like boys, okay? I want to be normal, I don't want to be like some...sex crazed freak...like grandpa Happosai..."

"Who?" Rhea blinked, "Um...Muku-chan...?"

'STOP CALLING ME MUKU-CHAN!" Muku barked in her face, "You don't know nothing about me! How can you even know what I want...when I don't even know what I want? This whole thing started because you got a silly crush on me, well stop it right now! It's over, I quit!"

"Quit?" Rhea was on her feet, shaking like a leaf as she sobbed, "But...but I love you!"

"Well I don't love you!" Muku turned away, shaking with emotions that she barely even understood within herself, "I wish I'd never even met you...I wish you'd just go away and leave me alone, like...right now!"

"Muku-chan..." Rhea's voice shook and then she vanished in a halo of pixilation.

Muku sagged as she grabbed hold of the nearest pole to steady herself. Her face contorted with emotions that she had not shown in front of the Bioroid, but now that she had said the words she was feeling as if something had lifted from her mind, like the red haze of a bubbling rage that had filled her very soul had dissipated like smoke before a cleansing breeze, and without a word she sank down to her knees and felt her body tremble with the force of a withdrawal, leaving her empty inside and without much life or feeling.

"Oh...Kami...why did I say all that?" she asked after a long wracking tremble had passed all the way through her body, causing her to beat her head gently against the nearest bench inside the cabin, "Oh Goddess...what have I done...?"

Unknown to her a pair of heads poked out from concealment and studied Muku's hapless plight from the far end of the cabin, one murmuring to the other, "Well...she's really gone and done it now..."

"Poor Muku," Sakura softly agreed, though her real sympathies were with her nominal rival, whose current pain she could not even begin to imagine, "No one should have to go through that..."

"I've seen it before," Troi sighed, "Nagisa was just like that when she thought her life was getting way too complicated. Ten years back and the pain still seems as fresh as any memory..."

"You're kidding!" Troi responded, "She and your sister look so happy together..."

"It wasn't One I was referring to," Troi replied, "But...never mind...ancient history, Kid. The fact is that Rhea's gonna be hurting something fierce, but that ain't nothing next to what your pal, Muku here, just did to herself blowing off steam like that in one swell swoop."

"What do you mean?" Sakura blinked, "She was the one doing all the yelling..."

"That's 'cause she's just a stupid kid who don't even know her own mind...exactly like I was when I was about that age...relatively speaking," Troi winced slightly, "She thinks she can turn it off and walk away from the whole deal, and she's just full of delusions. The bond between her and Rhea can't be severed like that...I know. She thought she could make a clean break by getting it all out into the open, but...she's just setting herself up for a real fall further down the line. Trust me on this, she needs help every bit as much as my Niece."

"Then...what do we do?" Sakura asked.

"Ordinarily I'd give them space to work things out for themselves," Troi replied, "But we don't have that luxury. Big Gold could attack again at any time, and the last thing we need is to be one short in the warrior department. You okay with waiting here and keeping an eye on your friend so she doesn't do anything really stupid...I mean...more stupid than what we just overheard?"

"Sure," Sakura said tersely, seeing Muku dissolve into tears and feeling her own heart get wrenched in her chest as this happened, "I can do that."

"Try and make it look like an accident that you found her," Troi replied, "I'm going to see what I can do for Rhea-chan..."

"Troi?" Sakura asked before the Iczer could make her usual fast exit, "Do you...do you think I'll ever act like that around you?"

"Honey," Troi gave her a crooked smile that was half-amused, half-bitter, "I expect to hear you go off on me at least four or five times in a year, especially when I do something to deserve it, but don't worry, I'm a big girl, I can take it."

And with that she vanished from the rail car, leaving Troi to softly murmur, "Yeah...but can I handle it? I wonder..." and she once again turned her focus upon the quietly sobbing form of her "best friend," and murmuring softly, "Muku Dori...what have you done...?"

"What is it?" Iczer One asked as she and her sister arrived in the laboratory complex.

"We've got trouble, Protector," Sister Grey announced, "A few moments ago I was checking the condition of our captive Sisters of the Comet in their isolation chamber, but when I scanned the room again I discovered the exact same image, which meant that we had a feedback loop that was affecting all the computer sensors and causing them to read only the same initial data listings over and over again. When I overrode the hacking job that had fouled up our base relays I found this...an empty chamber. I'm afraid they are gone..."

"Gone?" Iczer Two replied, "What do you mean by 'Gone?'"

"I mean that they were nowhere to be found, Commander," Sister Grey replied, "All three of the Sisters have vanished."

"Could they have been spirited out of isolation by a hostile force?" Iczer One asked her.

"I don't see how that is possible," Sister Grey replied, "Whoever did this would have to have the means for bypassing our defensive shields as though blending in with the frequency modulations. If there had been even one iota of dissimilarity our defensive sensors would have notified us of the intrusion. So far as we know, neither Gold nor her agents have the capacity for such near-  
perfect assimilation..."

"As far as you know," Iczer Two pointed out, "But we have underestimated Big Gold before, and if we do so now, at this critical juncture, then the results could prove disastrous."

"Agreed," Iczer One noted, "I'm putting Gamora base on immediate full alert with full security protocols to be implemented at level One emergency status. No one goes out or comes into this base without being individually cleared, and that includes Subspace transmissions..."

"I believe that the Terrans have a word for this, Sister," Iczer Two remarked, "It's called closing the barn doors after you've lost all your cattle. I would recommend that we recall our forces and deploy them for war. It would seem that Big Gold is making her move at last, and we had better be at the ready."

"Agreed," Iczer One nodded, "Have all Iczer-Robos on standby mode and prepped for immediate launch."

"Already done," Iczer Two acknowledged, "I had our forces mobilized for immediate deployment several hours ago, when we first had a sense that Big Gold was about to attempt something, and Troi took her Iczer Robo from its cradle not fifteen minutes ago, just in case you were thinking to ask."

"That was very insightful of you, Commander," Sister Grey remarked.

"Not really," Iczer Two replied, "I just anticipated the enemy by allowing myself to recall how Big Gold operates...there is nothing to be proud of in that, nor did it take an inordinate amount of foresight to plan what she is after."

"But why did Troi mobilize her Iczer Unit before this crisis?" Iczer One frowned slightly, "And where are the Sisters of the Comet?"

"Sir!" one of the technicians suddenly spoke up in alarm, "I'm afraid we've got an even bigger problem on our hands right now!"

"Eh?" Iczer Two looked up as that technician put caused a new image to appear in the air above her console, to which the formidable Commander blanched and softly said, "No...!"

"What in the world?" Iczer One turned form the image to stare at the isolation chamber itself, gasping out the words, "She's gone? But...how...?"

"I don't understand," Sister Grey replied, her hands moving over her own command console as she did a number of readings, "We should have detected this sooner...perhaps whatever feedback loop was being fed into the monitors..."

"That doesn't matter now," Iczer Two's tone grew hard, "Nova is gone...and where do you think we may find her?"

"She wouldn't go back to Big Gold...would she, Commander?" asked the technician who had made the discovery, one Sister Carnelian.

"No," Iczer One answered for her sister, "That would not be her likely plan, would it?"

"You read the same tea leaves as I do, Sister," Iczer Two said grimly, "My daughter could have only one goal at the present...it's to Furinkan High School that she has likely translocated."

"Uh on," Sister Carnelian softly replied, "There's going to be new trouble for the mortals..."

"There will be indeed," Iczer Two frowned darkly, "But nothing compared to what I'll be giving that young lady just as soon as I find her..."

Nova Kano smiled as she saw her prey sitting alone by herself in the middle of classes and softly murmured to herself, "Soon, my darling Yui-chan...soon you'll be mine again, and no one will ever separate us again, that I promised..."

To which Yui felt a slight chill travel down her spine, but she chalked it up to a slight change in the weather, glancing at where Muku, Sakura, Rhea and Yumi should be and feeling all alone by herself...and wondering why the thought of that was suddenly making her feel so nervous...?

Outside of the school building itself-at that very moment-her mother (or one half of her anyway) and her father were hiding around in the bushes waiting for a signal of their own to be sent, at which point they would make their move to gather the children of the Senshi together for a fateful meeting on the eve of the coming twilight...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Apocalypse Near: shadowmane

The moment of truth approaches as Big Gold does indeed prepare to make her final move, but what of the new crisis looming over Muku and Rhea with the former and the latter seemingly on the roads to splitsville, and will this affect the balance of the final endgame? Be with us next time for: "Hour of the Gum," or, "The Bubblegum Climax!" Be there!

X -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works.  



	33. Chapter 33

Earthchild33

The Earthchild

(An Iczer/Ranma/Sailor Moon Crossover)

By Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi,  
Naoko Takeuchi, Toshihiro Hirano,  
&amp; Hitoshi Okuda, with ideas and suggestions by TH Tiger and Johannes Huber)

Chapter Thirty-Three.

"How soon will they get here?"

"Difficult to say, Usagi-chan," Ami replied, "It is no light matter to have our children drawn together from their respective High Schools, and in the middle of the day no less. Might it not be more prudent to wait until classes are over?"

"No," Usagi frowned, "I don't know why...but I get this really weird feeling that something majorly important is about to take place, and that the kids are somehow at the center of it all, which...if you take into account Rini's involvement, does kind of make sense after a fashion."

"That true enough," Makoto smirked, "In one way or another that little rugrat's been at the center of one crisis after another, and even if we can't call her 'Small Lady' anymore, she still has a nose for getting herself and the rest of our kids into trouble."

"Like mother, like daughter," Minako beamed brightly.

"HEY!" Usagi rounded on her friends and faithful Senshi, "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Never mind, Bunny-ears," Rei half-smiled at her blonde sovereign, "The point is that we're about to get to the bottom of a mystery, and we're gonna get down to the truth if we have to drag it out of the little scamps the hard way."

"I just want to know why Karma's been keeping secrets from us," Haruka remarked, "She's never before been this reluctant to share with her parents.

"Yes," Michiru agreed with her wife-slash-husband, "It is very disturbing to think that she would be this secretive over a personal matter..."

All at once the Senshi collectively felt a distinctive shimmer in the air, and as one they turned their heads in time to see the last two missing members of their senior group arrive, accompanied by at least some of their missing daughters.

"Are we in time?" asked the elegant and eternal Setsuna as she smiled warmly at Usagi and the others.

"We got the word and would have come sooner," said the more demure Tomoe, "Only...we had to collect a few strays before we could put in an appearance."

"Thanks guys," Usagi turned and gave her best scowl as she eyed the younger set of their exclusive club of Senshi, "And as for you guys, what have you to say for yourselves, young ladies?"

"Um...what do you mean, Mom?" the pink-haired, teenaged Rini asked evasively as she took note of the fact that all of her Aunts had been gathered in one place, "Um...is something up?"

"That's what we would like to know," Haruka said sternly as she eyed her own daughter in particular, "Is there something you've been wanting to share with your mother and me, Karma-chan?"

"Ulp," the willowy girl with the foam blue-green hair replied as she looked from one parent to the other.

"Er...what going on, Mom?" Reiko asked as she glanced at Makoto.

"Yeah, Mom...what's with the third degree?" Meiko echoed her twin, only she was glancing at Minako.

"I have the most peculiar feeling that the jig, as they say, is up for you guys," remarked a stately young girl with purple hair as she glanced at her "cousins" and sensed immediately that they had been holding out on her about something very important, "Would you mind letting the rest of us in on the big secret that you've been keeping?"

"Um...what do you mean, Kiron-chan?" Rini asked of the daughter of Tomoe and Setsuna, "What makes you think we're hiding any big secrets?"

"Because I know you, Rini-chan," Kiron replied, "And you always get this nervous when you're hiding something that's about to drag the rest of us into your web kicking and screaming."

"At least one kid isn't hiding anything from us," Rei remarked, then glanced around, "Hey...where's my daughter?"

"And mine," Ami asked, "Couldn't you find them?"

"If you'll excuse the expression, there wasn't time enough to locate everybody," Setsuna replied, "Yui and Yumi have-oddly enough-disappeared from their campus. I found one Yui already in class, but I don't know where her other half has gotten off to while the half that remains in class is looking a bit anxious."

That is not all," Tomoe added, "Several other of their closest friends and acquaintances are also mysteriously missing in the spaces around her. However, we did find your twin and husband were hiding close nearby in the bushes...along with a very peculiar girl who we spotted hiding in a nearby tree overlooking their classroom."

"Another girl?" Rei blinked, "Did you find out who she was?"

"Not a Youma or denizen of the Dark Kingdom, if that is what you are thinking," Setsuna replied, "But there was a feeling about her...an energy pulse or a life-  
force that strongly matches Yui's own signature. It is as if there were some kind of a link between then, but it would be difficult to say more without further investigation."

"Uh...this girl," Rini said nervously, "She wouldn't happen to be about yea tall, have pointed ears and cherry-pink hair just a shade or two darker than mine, would she?"

"That was her exactly," Tomoe eyed the Princess with a disturbingly frank expression, "Do you know her?"

"Huh?" Rini winced, "Know her, no...of course not...never met her before in my life..."

"Ri-Ni," Usagi pronounced archly, watching her pink-haired daughter wince at that motherly tone that she so much loathed and dreaded.

"I got a feeling this is going to take a while," Makoto mused as she reached down and picked up a pair of glasses from a tray, "More tea, Usagi-chan?"

"Sure, thanks," Usagi reached for the glass without looking where her hand was going and "accidentally" knocked its contents onto Makoto, which triggered the other woman's latent Jusenkyo curse, having the desired effect of making both Reiko and Meiko look increasingly nervous. "Oops," Usagi said as she turned to see an altered Makoto standing beside her, "My mistake...sorry about that, Makoto-chan."

"Don't mention it," came a far gruffer voice than that of the beautiful Amazon that was normally Makoto. In her place stood a towering male figure who fairly bristled with Testosterone for all the fact that he was a pretty nice guy, kind to his wife and daughters...when they did nothing to earn a place over his knee for a good spanking.

The collective gulps of the twins could be heard by everyone else in the chamber. Minako only smiled as she regarded her husband, then gave a look that would have done credit to a Cheshire at the two cowering teenagers to whom she had given birth and purred seductively, "Time to face the music, Babies...will you tell us what you've been doing lately that has you two looking to cover your soon-to-be-warmed bottoms?"

"We confess!" Meiko immediately broke.

"We didn't mean anyone any harm!" Reiko added, "It was Rini's idea, honest!"

"Oh great," Rini winced, "Rat me out why don't you...?"

"Rini," Usagi said patiently, "I'm waiting...or do I have to make a long-  
distance call to your father's cell-phone number?"

"Hey, we didn't do anything wrong!" Rini insisted, "It was Yui and Yumi who started all this!"

"The rest of us just came along after the fact," Karma assured them, "Honest."

"We'll see about that," Rei looked ready to roll up her metaphorical sleeve as she growled to herself, "When I get my hands on that Yui...no, scratch that...maybe it's her father I should be spanking!"

"Do you think, perhaps, that he might enjoy that?" Ami mused before sighing, "I wish that I could say that I was surprised to learn of Yumi's involvement...but I'm not. Sad that...I blame it on myself for being such an absent mother..."

"Later guys," Usagi said, "At the moment I think we have enough of a quorum here to start an official meeting. Everyone agree on that?"

There was a collective nodding of heads by her fellow Senshi, so Usagi nodded herself and said, "Right...then let's convene this in the council chamber. Right this way..."

With that the pony-tailed blonde woman crossed her modest apartment and walked right up to an ornamental set of crystal-framed doors and pushed her hands against two of the panels. With that the doors began to glow brightly, and then they opened inward...through the wall and into another avenue of Time and Space, revealing a chamber beyond that was far larger and more grand than the entire city block that it would have occupied had it existed in normal timespace.

Her Senshi and their children followed her into the cavernous chamber, which in many aspects resembled nothing less than an incredibly elaborate and massive throne chamber, complete with a raised dais upon which sat a pair of throne-  
sized chairs carved entirely of glistening white crystal. The entire palace it was a part of glowed with an unearthly silvery radiance, and beyond the portal-  
like windows one could see out onto the starry night of space with a lunar landscape visible in the distance.

As they entered the room the clothing of all of the women (and man, in Makoto's case) shimmered and altered as if automatically reverting from normal street clothes to the more elegant and refined attire befitting the Senshi. Usagi's gown became regal and elegant as befit a Queen more than a Princess, and a tiara-like crown set about her head as a pair of angelic wings appeared upon her back, further adding to the unearthly beauty that she radiantly manifested.

The scepter of the Moon and its counterpart dagger-like moon-wand appeared in either hand as Usagi mounted the steps leading to her throne without once tripping over the hem of her gown the entire way. She composed her wings as she sat down so that they hovered above her like a mantle while the rest of the Senshi assumed their places about the ornate room, Rei taking a spot several steps below the throne itself in the position of High Defender, her Armor of Mars giving her a fierce and warlike countenance that the normally poised Shrine maiden-turned-idol-singer did not normally manifest as all the Senshi-both inner and outer groups-turned the focus of their attention upon the Princess Rini and her equally unsettled cohorts.

"Now then," Usagi said with a purr that would have done justice to a Lunar Cat, "Would you mind explaining from the beginning exactly how it is you your kids became involved in your latest adventures?"

Rini, Karma, Meiko and Reiko all collectively exchanged nervous looks with one another while the more sedate Kiron eyed her companions with a faint hint of amusement. The game was up and they all of them knew it, but...to confess what they had been doing for the past few days when it involved admitting to having SEX with other women...and alien C'thuwulf women no less?

When faced with such dire choices Rini did the only thing that she could think of to relieve tension in this crisis...she decided to put the blame squarely on Yui and Yumi. Let them bail themselves out for getting the rest of them into this mess...though even that was not going to spare them from-at the least-a good hard talking-to, and-at the worst-an indefinite grounding and suspension of their collective allowance...

"It's like this, Mom," Rini began, "It all started for me when I got a call from Yumi saying that she and Yui were under attack by a monster and...well...when I got there I found them with this really odd alien girl by the name of Kano Rhea...and boy! Was that ever where things started to get weird...I mean...weirder than normal, if you get my meaning..."

Stony-eyed silence greeted her weak attempt at a joke, which reminded Rini a little too much of the old saying about the boy who had cried wolf once too often, only to be ignored when faced with an actual crisis. In this case the wolves were very real, but her entire collective history meant that the odds were stacked long against her anyway, so she had to get more creative if she was to bull her way through this one while retaining the ability to sit down without the use of a fluffy pillow...

Tenma gasped as he turned to see...Tenma? And Cologne was with him? Which meant that either the jig was up or someone had really screwed up in the effort to eliminate the original model when the doppelganger cloned him.

But still he could try bluffing his way out of this, all-too-aware that Taro Yuki was watching him with rounded eyes and a much confused expression.

"Who are you?" the Doppelganger demanded.

"Nice try, Creep!" Tenma sniffed while assuming a fighting crouch, "Now who are you and what are you doing here wearing my school uniform and taking my place on a field trip?"

"What do you think I'm doing, Baka," the Doppelganger replied, "I'm Tenma..."

"And I'm the King of Sweden," Tenma snarled before launching an attack that the other Tenma had already seen coming.

"Oh my," Cologne remarked as she watched one boy attack the other, seeing the other one react exactly as the real Tenma would, falling back and blocking a flying kick that had a lot of raw power behind it, the movements and control of both fighters almost identical down to the faintest nuance. After a moment of watching the two go at it she further remarked, "Now this will be interesting...they seem well-matched at the start, but I suspect it will not remain so for very long..."

"What do you mean?" Yuki asked as she came to stand beside the ancient Amazon and former matriarch of the Joketsuzoku, "What are they doing? And who is the other Tenma?"

"A good question on all counts," Cologne remarked, "What say we watch and find out as events unfold, shall we?"

"But...what if one of them gets hurt?" Yuki asked.

"That has yet to be determined," Cologne eyed the girl and was faintly amused to notice her obvious concern about the outcome. How interesting...and what it implied about the Doppelganger...

The two Tenmas traded blows, kicks, punches, leaps, acrobatic rolls and other maneuvers with such perfect synchronization that they could almost have been performers doing an elaborately staged dance together. It did not take long, however, before Tenma's additional training came to the fore and he managed to surprise the Doppelganger by using a maneuver that he had figured out for himself while sparring with Fiber.

"HAH!" Tenma crowed as the cable-divider that he had "borrowed" from the museum mountings whipped out from his hand to snare the other Tenma around one ankle, "How's that, you Fake? Didn't see that one coming!"

The Doppelganger realized that there was something different about the fighting style of his opponent from what he knew from the imprinting on his own neurological circuits. There was evidence of a more advanced refinement to certain of his techniques, which meant that the original Tenma had just received some pretty high-level training, which could work against the Doppelganger if he continued to fight exactly as if he were the original Tenma. This was most undesirable as it meant that the Doppelganger might lose, in which case he risked exposure of both himself and his mission with the attendant result that Big Gold would then be at liberty to have him eliminated...to say nothing of the rest of his family, just to be completely thorough about it.

Moreover...the thought of being exposed like this before Yuki was another factor that played heavily with his desire not to lose this battle. His growing fondness for the human girl had shown him that being Tenma could mean more than just some simple military assignment. He found he very much liked her friendship and could not endure the thought of her inevitable rejection when she learned that he was not truly human. He also did not want to look bad to her at all, and in this he proved to be remarkably like Tenma, who also hated to lose even when the opponent was as skilled as the real Tenma.

Fortunately, as a Bioroid, he had greater than normal human strength and resilience, and all he had to do was ratchet down the restraints holding him back from his greater threshold, and so when he caught himself with both hands he had enough force to surprise the other Tenma by pushing himself into a vault with both feet aimed at Tenma's chest, striking with just enough force to send the other boy flying.

"Tenma!" Yuki called out, then glanced from one to the other and said, "Ten-  
chan...?"

The Doppelganger froze as he turned to look at his girlfriend, hoping he had not just inadvertently exposed himself with that feat of strength, which surely was beyond the means of the real Tenma to duplicate...

"GOTCHA!" the real Tenma called out as his own feet connected soundly with the jaw of his counterpart, knocking the Doppelganger for a loop as he had not expected a mere human to recover so swiftly.

"Now this is getting interesting," Cologne mused, "And the differences in their respective styles and techniques are telling..."

"What do you mean, Baba?" Yuki asked in growing confusion, "Which one of them is Ten-chan?"

"That is about to be determined, child," Cologne nodded, "Have a look."

"Now you're gonna tell me who you are and who sent you!" one Tenma declared as he stood vengefully above the fallen body of the other.

"No way!" the Doppelganger looked up at him with defiance, "You stupid jerk, do you know what will happen if I lose?"

"Why don't we find out then?" Tenma asked as his fist started to rocket forward, only to get intercepted by the hand of the other.

The Doppelganger's eyes blazed as he reacted instinctively to the situation, and all at once they two of them-plus their nearby observers-were drawn into subspace, the museum itself going awash in sepia-like colors. The Doppelganger then kicked up and dislodged Tenma's grip on him so that he could flip back up to his feet and more properly confront him.

"Now we're fighting on my turf, Baka!" the Doppelganger declared.

To his surprise the real Tenma just smiled, "Bad move, Sucker..."

"Oh my," Cologne remarked, sensing that something very momentous was about to happen...

'Well, any luck?"

"No...not yet that is," Yui replied, concentrating her mind upon the sacred fire that burned brightly at her mother's Shrine, "I am getting a vague sense of Muku, but no definite impressions yet, other than the fact that she's not feeling too happy..."

"Huh, I could have told you that myself," Yumi remarked as she continued to tap away at her portable pocket-console, "Figures Muku'd pick a great time like this to be having a nervous breakdown over her relationship problems..."

"Yes, I wonder why that is?" Yui mused, her sarcasm so palpable that Yumi turned around and glared at her friend's profile.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" she asked.

"I should think it was pretty obvious," Yui replied, "You were the one who was pestering her for the details of her alleged relations with Rhea-san. I'm not at all surprised that Muku finally got fed up with your insinuations and decided to have it out with her so-called girlfriend."

"What do you mean my insinuations?" Yumi asked.

"Don't be dense, Super-brain," Yui said levelly, "You know damned well what I'm talking about. You were all but hitting her over the head with the fact that she's in love with another girl but it just too clueless to see the obvious implications. Of course that Rhea's been all but stalking her since the very beginning, so it's not too surprising if Muku-chan's been starting to feel a little pressured..."

Yumi paused to think about it then said, "You really think I've been pushing her a little too hard?"

"Does the word 'Bingo' mean anything to you, Motor-mouth-hello! What have we here," Yui sharpened her focus, her hands steepled together as she concentrated into the fire and said, "I've got it...I've got a definite reading this time...it's Muku-chan...and she's standing at a park somewhere...and she's not alone either..."

"Right," Yumi started to type furiously on her data-pad, then tapped her head visor and said, "Got her location...she's about five-point-six kilometers from here, about an hours walk unless we teleport to her position. Uh...you said she wasn't alone? Who else is with her?"

Yui's eyes narrowed a bit as she said, "Sakura...no sign of Troi...but I'm definitely picking up an image of that Atros character. I wonder if Ken is anywhere about on this? Wouldn't be like him to hang back, he's an even nosier pest than you are."

"Well, I like that," Yumi sniffed, "Just because you guys are my best friends and I'm concerned about all three of you having relations with these Iczers...um...speaking of which...what about your other half?"

"She's back in class, which is where we ought to be if we had any sense about the matter," Yui replied, "Good thing she'll be able to take notes for the both of us. I'm in enough hot water with my parents as it is to have to worry about my already shoddy attendance record..."

"It wouldn't be so bad if you'd just use that Geopositioning locator pen, like I gave you for your last birthday," Yumi replied, "Honestly, you Hibiki like to act as if you're fine about having no sense of directions. How do you expect to get to Muku if you can't even find your way out of a closet?"

"I'd be just fine if you wouldn't be such a-AHH!" Yui all but jumped out of her full lotus posture, the definite sense of someone wrapping their arms around her making her flinch, even though there was no one in the room to actually do the assaulting.

"What's wrong?" Yumi reacted with a start at seeing her friend's unexpected outburst.

"She's back!" Yui declared with a wild look of panic, "Don't ask me how, but that Pink-haired maniac has gotten loose...and she's with my sister! I can feel her hands all over me...!"

"She's loose?" Yumi blinked, "You mean...that Nova maniac?"

"Who else?" Yui jumped to her feet, "You've got to go find Muku, I gotta go help my twin! If she hauls me off into that giant Robo-mecha of hers again..."

"Gotcha," Yumi put away her console and stowed her visor back into the ether from whence it had been drawn, "I'll teleport to where Muku is, but you'd better watch your back...that Nova's a pretty hot number, and if she's as stuck on you as you were telling me before..."

Both junior Senshi transformed into their Sailor incarnations, then teleported to their respective goals, the one to find their wayward friend, the other to head of a potential kidnapping...

Several moments earlier...

"Good," Rei remarked, "It's PE time. Now's our chance to go get Yui-chan and hall her butt over to the meeting."

"Are you sure it's necessary?" Ryoga asked, "We may be making a mountain out of a molehill here. We don't actually know that she and her friends are involved in anything...illicit."

"And we won't know if we stand around here and debate it all day," Rei countered, "Now just follow my lead and we'll do this nice and casual like so we won't draw anyone's suspicions..."

"Um..." Ryoga blinked as his eyes traveled up into the air as he spotted something moving about at treetop level, "Dear...are you seeing what I'm seeing up there?"

Rei blinked as a red-and-black armored form drifted over the soccer field, trailing a mane of cherry-red hair as she hovered above the young girls in the field like a bird of prey about to swoop down on an unsuspecting mouse, at which the Shinto Shrine Maiden-turned housewife and Idol singer reacted, "Who the hell is that? Peter Pan?"

"I don't know," Ryoga stared at the flying girl, then saw the direction in which she was headed and cried out, "She's after Yui-chan!"

"She must be an enemy," Rei growled, rolling up her sleeve as she muttered, "Well, not with my kid she doesn't! I had enough of Youma doing that to us in the old days..."

Unaware of all this and wholly unsuspecting, Yui was trotting out onto the field in her soccer shorts to take her place with her fellow classmates, her mind far away from thoughts of possible danger as she could not quite keep the image of Muku's upset visage from looming up on her, and she had no sense of menace as she fretted about what her twin would be doing at that particular moment, and thus she did not see the hovering Nova looming up over her until the latter girl was fully upon her.

"That Muku...baka," she murmured softly, wondering where her beloved friend had gotten off to, and wondering if Yui should cheer her on in telling that Rhea off, or to weep for her as she could sense how painful would be the moment of their altercation, "If only I wasn't such a baka myself..."

All at once Nova was there, arms going around behind her back and a familiar voice murmuring in her ear, "I don't mind if you're a baka...in fact, I think it sounds kind of sexy."

"W-What?" Yui blinked as she felt strong hands fondle her breasts and loins from beneath her bra and panties, Nova's hands slipping in to insert two fingers up and down her sex before she had time enough to fully know that the Bioroid was upon her.

"I'm sorry it took me this long to get close to you," Nova murmured as she cuddled Yui and nuzzled her cheek against her hair, "It was so mean of them to keep us apart, but now you're mine, all mine, and I won't let them have you..."

"YOU?" Yui all but screeched, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? GET OFF OF ME-  
HEY! DON'T DO THAT!"

"But I've missed you so much, Yui-chan," Nova cooed, giving one breast a sensuous rub-down as she removed the bra to get at her nipple, "And see? You're so wet for me! I just know you've been missing me too..."

"I HAVE NOT!" Yui protested wildly, seeing all of her fellow students on the soccer field turn to look her way with incredulous expressions.

Coach Noriko blew her whistle and said, "Hey, you too! If you're going to do that, take it to the showers!"

"But I-!" Yui started to protest.

And then-as if this were not bad enough-another voice snapped out, "Just what the heck are you doing with my daughter?"

"Oh Kami," Yui winced, not needing to turn around to identify that voice as belonging to her mother.

"Hmmm?" Nova asked as she turned them both about in order to identify the speakers, "And who's asking?"

"I'm her mother!" a transformed Rei declared in haughty tones, "And I'll ask you again, what are you doing with my daughter?"

"Uh...Mom...Dad?" Yui fairly wilted, knowing how incriminating it looked to have the other girl fondling her in such a public fashion.

"Yui-chan?" her father looked stunned, "What...what's going on here? Who is this...?"

Before Yui could answer that Nova spoke up and said, "I'm Yui-chan's partner, my name is Kano Nova, but you can call me Daughter."

"Daughter?" both Rei and Ryoga asked in chorus.

"N-No!" Yui protested, "It isn't like that! Really-!"

"Oh, Yui-chan," Nova said affectionately, keeping a firm grip on the other girl in spite of Yui's frantic attempts to free herself from her powerful embrace, "There's no reason for you to be shy about us. I know it must be awkward having to explain this to your parents, but you've already met my parents, so there's no reason why we should have to deny out love in front of others..."

"Love?" Rei reacted with a look of fire fairly boiling behind her beautiful expression.

"Yui-chan...is this true?" Ryoga asked.

"Dad!" Yui cried out desperately, "That's not how it..."

"I have a confession to make," Nova said, surprising Yui by letting her go and standing all by herself with her head downcast, her posture prim and proper, "I'm the one who kidnapped your daughter the other day. It was wrong, and I know it, and I'm sorry if it inconvenienced you and caused you to worry, but...but I just couldn't help myself! I love her so much, and I never want us to be parted."

"N-Nani?" Yui blinked, unprepared for this mercurial change in mood and behavior.

"You kidnapped our daughter?" Rei all but stabbed a finger at the pink-haired girl.

"Please don't be mad at me, Mother-in-law," Nova pleaded, "I did it for honorable reasons..."

"Honorable...?" Yui fairly sputtered.

"Omigawd!" Ryoga reacted, "Kami-sama! Our daughter's been corrupted and taken to San Francisco, not to mention Moogie street in Singapore...!"

"Dad!" Yui declared in dismay.

"Um...well..." Nova rubbed the back of her head and made a slightly off-key chuckle that sounded suspiciously like the laugh of a nervous Hibiki, "Actually, Father-in-law...we've been to San Francisco, New Orleans, Los Angeles, Soho, the French Riviera, Westchester..."

"You took her to see all those places?" Rei sounded more dismayed than angry.

"Ah...well..." Nova smiled lopsidedly, "It was...kind of involuntary...you see...we kind of lost our way somehow and..."

"Don't listen to her!" another Yui angrily declared, this time garbed in the robes of Sailor Deimos, "She's a kidnapper and a liar!"

"Huh?" Nova blinked as she turned to regard the new arrival, then glanced back at Yui and said, "Whoah...Yui's in stereo?"

"Get away from her, you Witch!" the Senshi-clad Yui declared as she assumed a place between Nova and the other Yui, "You've got a lot of nerve showing up here after what you pulled the other day..."

"What are you saying?" the fuku-clan Rei asked of her fuku-clad daughter.

"I'm saying that you can't trust her any farther than you can throw that giant robot of hers," Sailor Deimos declared as she turned an angry glare upon the Bioroid, "You were working for the enemy up until just yesterday..."

"You're right," Nova replied, "I was working for Big Gold...but I've changed, honestly! I'm not the same Bioroid that you knew when I kidnapped you."

"The hell you aren't!" the soccer-clad Yui insisted, "You didn't just kidnap me and take me into that Mecha, you ravished me and had your way with me and everything...!"

"What?" Rei and Ryoga said together.

"Ah..." both Yuis turned identical nervous glances and regarded their parents with some trepidation, as if only just then realizing what they were confessing to within earshot of their fellow schoolmates.

"Two Yuis," Nova stared at one then at the other, "Hey...y'know...I kinda like that costume...it's so retro-Nineties it's almost fashionable...did you make it in Subspace? It almost looks like it's not really there...like it's kind of an illusion..."

"You can tell?" Rei asked with a slightly disconcerted expression.

"Yeah, and I can see you've got the same kind of costume, Mom-in-law," Nova stroked her chin, "No question you're related...same good looks and everything, only you don't look much older than us. Must be good genetics or something..."

"Ah...well..." Rei allowed with a somewhat disconcerted expression.

"But you know something else?" Nova smiled as she reached out and hugged both versions of Yui to her body, "It doesn't matter to me what you look like, Yui-  
chan...and if there's more than one of you, then that means there's twice the loving for you both!"

"HEY!" both Yui's chorused together, only to turn with mutually dismayed looks as their father loomed over them, his expression stern and commanding.

"Yui-chan...tell us the truth," he said somberly, "Have you had relations with this girl behind your mother's back, to say nothing of mine?"

"Uh...Dad..." Sailor Deimos timidly began.

"...It wasn't like we wanted to..." Yui hesitantly continued.

All at once their father broke down into tears and hugged the both of them, catching Nova up in the circle of his embrace, "My Babies are all grown up and having sex! I can't believe it...you were just a little girl the other day...and now you're all mature and carrying on just like your aunts...!"

"DAD!" Sailor Deimos and Yui cried together.

"Wow," Nova remarked, not at all minding being pressed up in a sandwich between two versions of Yui, "Emotional tough guy..."

"You have no idea," Yui remarked with a deadpanned expression.

"He always gets worked up like this," Sailor Deimos noted in a conspiratorial manner, "He's almost as bad as uncle Tendo..."

"I'm still waiting to hear an explanation about how you and this girl became such a close item, Yui-chan," Rei somberly noted.

Before either Yui could say a word about this, Coach Noriko spoke up and said, "Do you people mind? You're disrupting my class! If you're going to have a family discussion, then take it somewhere else!"

"Uh...sorry about that," Ryoga straightened up and assumed a contrite expression, "We didn't mean to put on any spectacles here...I'm sure you understand...family business and all that?"

"Right," Rei frowned, "I guess we can put off the explanation for now. It's time to get back to Usagi's place anyway, we have a meeting to conduct, and I'm pretty sure that this girl here can give us a few clues about what's been going on with the other children."

"Ahhh..." both Yuis automatically chorused.

"Oh, you want to know what's been going on?" Nova replied, "Sure, I'd be happy to tell you everything I know, in fact-MMMPPPH?!" she gasped as both Yuis slapped their hands over her mouth in tandem.

"I guess that tells us what we need to know," Ryoga grimly noted.

"No question about it," Rei said, pulling out her Henshin pen, "Prepare for Sailor Teleport, next stop, the Crystal Palace."

"Oh, we're going somewhere?" Nova asked as soon as the two Yuis removed their hands from her mouth, "Neat!"

"You may not think that when you meet our Aunt Usagi," Sailor Deimos warned.

"In fact, you'll probably be getting more than you bargained on," Yui ably predicted.

"Hey, no problem for me," Nova shrugged, "I've got no where else to go, and where you go, there I go, Yui-chan...chans? Heh, I like to travel, just as long as its with you."

Both Yuis turned and looked at her with mutually dubious expressions even as they vanished from the field, a halo of light drawing them all to a very different location...

"Okay," Sakura took a deep breath to steady her nerves, "There's no turning back now...so...here goes nothing..."

She moved out of concealment and slowly approached the girl who was leaning against a rail overlooking a major waterway, then paused when she was a few meters away and composed herself rather shyly, "Um...hi?"

Muku reacted like her namesake, startled into turning around and seeing Sakura standing there with an almost-friendly expression.

"Sakura-chan?" she gasped, "But...how...?"

"Would you believe dumb luck?" Sakura lied, "Er...you know, we're all out looking for you. The way you and Rhea-san took off...it...made us all a little bit worried..."

"Oh...I'm sorry about that," Muku sagged, glancing down as she said, "I...kind of had a lot on my mind..."

"Yeah, I guess," Sakura paused before adding, "This business with the C'thuwulf...it's got us all a little bit rattled..."

Muku's shoulders sagged even more, "I'm sorry about that...it's all my fault, you getting dragged into this..."

"I wouldn't say that," Sakura replied, "Oh, I know it was a bit much to begin with...but after a while you come to realized that...none of us here were meant to live ordinary lives, Muku-chan. Doesn't matter what we do...we'll never be ordinary."

"But..." Muku began.

"You know...I can't even remember when I started having these feelings about you," Sakura blurted out, knowing that she had to get right to the heart of the matter before Muku went into a Hibiki-like depression, "We've been friends and rivals nearly all of our lives...every time we spar, it's been you that I've most wanted to impress...and tell me that you don't measure yourself against my abilities. We're always been pretty much near equal..."

"I guess," Muku softly conceded, unsure where this was leading.

"You're almost like a sister to me," Sakura continued, "But...what I feel for you isn't what I'd feel for a sister. You're...like a part of me deep down...the better half of what I've always wanted to be. I know I'm pretty rough around the edges, and some people think I'm almost a boy the way I act around the other boys in our school, and whenever they point to me and Ken and talk about our engagement...I've always felt a little funny about that. I never knew why...but for a time I started to think that maybe it was because it was you that I wanted to spend my time with, using any excuse I could find, either in challenge matches or by training with you under my Pop."

"Sakura-chan?" Muku asked with a look of wonder.

"You don't know what it's like just being near you some days," Sakura turned a surprisingly frank look her way, her blue eyes as level and open as Muku could ever remember, "So near to you and yet like you're a hundred kilometers away. I've never had the guts to tell you this because I knew you'd think it was weird and maybe you'd reject me and I'd be all hurt about that...and I didn't want to be rejected. I don't know how to say this...but you scare the hell out of me some days..."

"Nani?" Muku blinked.

"The way you look, talk, act and even smell..." Sakura glanced away, "You're just so...feminine...I don't know what I mean...but whatever it is you've got, I definitely want it...want it so bad that I'd risk almost anything just to be beside you."

Muku could only stare and looked stunned at that declaration, not knowing what to do or say in the face of such honesty, such intensity of feeling. She was numb, unable to form a coherent thought as she studied the other girl intensely, as if she had never truly seen Sakura before...or this side of her...a side that was both aching and vulnerable, not at all the cock-sure, brash and confident spatula-wielding tomboy who never seemed to need or want for anything.

Sakura sighed and said, "But it wasn't until Troi came into my life that I finally understood what it was that I wanted from you. It used to drive me crazy trying to figure out why you could do this to me, and what I...I wanted to share with you...I just couldn't accept what it might mean about me, that I was weird and...unnatural...that I got mixed up values on account of who and what my parents are...I mean...my Pop turns into a girl for Kami's sakes! How much weirder can you get?"

"Ah...Aunt Makoto?" Muku answered.

"Heh...good point," Sakura chuckled, "Reiko and Meiko got the opposite deal, only with them it's like they got a part-time father and two mothers, all because she got a Jusenkyo curse trying to help Yui's mother cure her father of his Pig-curse."

"And instead she fell into the spring of drowned twins," Muku smiled as she still found the story to be quite humorous, even though she knew that Yui lived every day of her life with the consequences, having somehow inherited the same Twin curse, "So...maybe it's a little bit weird, your Dad and all that, but I still think he's pretty cool and...and...so are you."

"Even though I don't turn into a guy?" Sakura arched an eyebrow, then sobered again, "Muku-chan...I can't help the way I feel about you. I'm not a lesbian...at least...I don't think I am...even if Troi and me...well...that's...kind of complicated..."

"Uh...yeah...you and Troi..." Muku hesitated, "Um...how is it? I mean...what's it like? Ah...you know...?"

"You mean making out with another girl?" Sakura replied, "Actually...it's not bad at all...nothing like I would have ever imagined. Troi's...well...she's special, all right?"

"Special...how?" Muku wondered.

"Ah...well..." Sakura rubbed the back of her head, "That's...kind of hard to explain. I mean...could you describe what an okonomiyaki tastes like before you try it?"

"Oh," Muku said, hesitating before she added, "But...you like it?"

Sakura nodded, "Oh yeah...actually, I like it a whole lot. You don't know what it feels like having another girl in your arms...it's like making love to yourself, only the other person becomes like the focus of all your attention..."

"You make it sound like a Kata," Muku wondered.

"Hey, maybe it'd be more like comparing it to a dance," Sakura shrugged, "Or maybe like when your parents skate together. You ever see how they look at each other?"

"Oh...yeah..." Muku colored, remembering quite vividly how her parents could turn a skating match into a visual opera.

"I'd..." Sakura hesitated, drew a deep breath, then plunged on ahead, "I'd love to go skating with you like that...I think that's why I like sparring with you so much...you make me try harder than I'd ever known I could do...but I don't...don't...don't really want to fight with you. In fact..."

Just then another voice sharply butted in, "There you are! We've been looking all over for you, and it figures Sakura would get here before me."

"Yumi-chan?" Muku gasped as she saw her Senshi-clad friend in her alternate identity as Sailor Hermes.

Sakura just sighed, "What do you want, Yumi?"

"I want to know why Clueless here went storming off like she did, dragging Rhea with her like she was going to the teacher's office or something," Yumi replied, giving Muku an angry look, "What did you say to her anyway? And where the heck is she?"

"Ah..." Muku winced with an incriminating expression of guilt written across her face.

"She told her to leave," Sakura replied, "Which is what you ought to do, Nosy," she added with a particularly arched expression.

"You-WHAT?" Yumi whirled back on Muku, "What did you say?"

"I..." Muku's shoulders slumped again, "I told her to get lost...I got angry...and I said some things...I didn't really mean..."

Yumi just stood there for a moment then asked, "Why?"

"Because..." Muku hesitated.

"Because she was feeling trapped into a relationship that she neither asked for nor intended to have," Sakura said tiredly, "What did you think was going to happen?"

"And you overheard her say this?" Yumi turned an accusatory look towards the other girl present.

That put Sakura on the spot, and for a moment the okonomiyaki chef just floundered looking for a diplomatic way to explaining just how she could have been overhearing what was nominally a private conversation.

Fortunately for her, Muku spared her the trouble by saying, "I guess I was feeling a little trapped...I mean...this is all so weird for me. I never thought about having a relationship with another girl...I mean...honestly, that's not what I thought my whole life would be about. I wasn't even worried about dating guys, at least not for a couple more years. I have enough trouble just keeping up on my studies, and it's not like I go out of my way to encourage these guys to go chasing after me, especially Kuno Godai..."

"Let me get this straight," Yumi said without a trace of irony in her voice, "You got upset with your Bioroid girlfriend because you don't want to be called a Lesbian...is that it?"

"Ah...well..." Muku hastily back-pedaled, "I've got nothing against lesbians...I mean...some of our best Aunts are gay, right? I mean, there's Aunt Michiru, Haruka, Makoto, Minako..."

"Would it surprise you to learn that at least three of them aren't really gay?" Yumi asked, "Aunt Haruka...okay, we all know she's Butch, and we love her just the way she is, but Aunt Michiru used to date guys before she settled on Aunt Haruka. Aunt Makoto and Minako used to chase boys like it was a national sport or something...they were close friends, just like us, when Makoto fell into that spring that turns her into a guy at least part of the time! Hell, even my own mother has had her flings with other girls, and I won't even go into the verbal fencing Aunt Usagi and Aunt Rei get into. And why do you think it is that mom never mentions who my real Dad is, huh?"

"Huh?" both Sakura and Muku chorused together.

"Yeah...that's right," Yumi snorted, "Everybody thinks Uncle Urawa is my real dad, but I've had my suspicions for a long, long time about that. I mean...if it was mom's old boyfriend who got her pregnant with me, then why doesn't she ever admit it, even to me? I've got a right to know, but she just says that it was someone very close to her, and I think I know who she means, and it wasn't Uncle Mamoru either."

"But then...who...?" Muku blinked.

"You think your real dad is Aunt Makoto?" Sakura asked.

"Bingo," Yumi replied, "And if that's the case, then that means that the twins are really my half-sibs...but you see what I mean? I've got more reason than the both of you combined to think it's cool to be real tight with your girlfriends."

"O-kay," Sakura said after absorbing and reflecting on this for a moment, "So you're more cool with what these C'thuwulf represent than the rest of us. That explains your little fishing expedition the last three times you've been there."

"Fishing expedition?" Muku arched an eyebrow.

"Sure," Yumi grinned, "I've bagged Salmon, Catfish and Trout."

"Budum-ching," Sakura deadpanned, "So...getting back to the subject of what a mess you made going off on Rhea the way you did..."

"Ulp," Muku winced, "Give me a break...I mean...I don't want to be tied down with a relationship before I've even graduated from High School! I know I should have put it differently...and it was wrong of me to...hurt her feelings the way I did, but..."

"But what?" Sakura asked, "You think it's unfair that you and me both got stuck being partnered with an Iczer? I got news for you...it sucks and there's no denying it. We've been drafted into a war that we never even knew was going on, but it wasn't the C'thuwulf who brought it here, it was their enemy who brought their war here, an enemy who they thought was long defeated."

"Yeah, so they made a mistake about that," Yumi frowned, "It happens, like with some of the enemies my parents made between now and that Silver Millennium they like to go on about. But you know what? I'm glad they're here...I'm glad to have someone like the C'thuwulf on our side, and I'm really glad that somebody like Rhea cares enough about us to stick her neck out for you-what? Four or five times now? And you know she's gotten pretty badly beat up just protecting your hide, Sanzenen, so...what exactly did you say to her to make her leave you alone?"

"Ah..." Muku could not meet the expressions of her two friends and so looked away before saying, "I...told her to leave me alone...that I...I wasn't like her...wasn't like that..."

"Like...what? Like a lesbian?" Yumi asked, then frowned as she added, "Are you really sure about that? Can you prove it?"

"Prove it?" Muku blinked, "But..."

"Prove to me that you're not gay," Yumi insisted, "Can you do that? If you can, then I'll shut up and won't say anything more on the subject."

"That would be a first," Sakura murmured.

"But...I can't prove a thing like that!" Muku declared with a wild gesticulation, "How the hell am I supposed to show you that...well...that I...ah...well..."

"Then answer me a question if you can, Muku-chan," Sakura replied, "Has there ever been any guy in our school that has turned you on? Any boy at all...anyone in our class or one of the others?"

"Uh...huh?" Muku blinked.

"I'll put it to you another way, Sanzenen," Yumi looked at her directly, "Has anyone male-other than your Dad-ever done anything for you? Have you ever watched some guy and asked yourself if he was cute or single? Have you ever watched a sporting event and thought a guy had a nice set of glutes, or maybe a teacher has a really nice smile? What about uncle Ranma? Does looking at him when he's a guy ever make you wish he was single and our age?"

"Ah...no..." Muku answered in a very tiny voice, wracking her memories as she tried to think of all the boys she knew, and she could not come up with a single example of anyone male who she found sexy, not even her own father..."

"So...what about the girls?" Yumi asked, "Or is that a blank area for you too?"

Muku was starting to wonder about that herself, and now that she thought about it, she had always admired Sakura's ability to look both rugged and feminine in one and the same breath, Yui's stoical demeanor, how she could seem so beautiful and so lost at one and the same instant. Rini, Perm, the twins, even Yumi...all of them were her friends and people to whom she felt truly close on the most intimate level that fellow warriors could enjoy. She thought briefly of Ken but dismissed him out of hand, a nice guy but a bit too much of a manipulator, and he was Sakura's boyfriend anyway, not really available even if she thought he had anything that could interest her. In truth she could only think of how pretty the women in her life could be, even Sakura's mother seemed more interesting than her father's natural form...his cursed form, on the other hand...

Muku recoiled from the discovery that she was actually admiring Sakura's father as a woman! She had always thought the fiery redhead was like some wild, untamed flower, but she was her Sensei, for Kami's sake! And then she thought about her mother...

"Kami-sama..." Muku breathed, recoiling as if she had been struck in the face with a disturbing revelation.

"You see?" Yumi asked, "Not all rumors about you are completely without foundation."

"Rumors?" Muku blinked, "What rumors?"

"The same rumors that peg the both of us as a couple of Lesbos," Sakura winced slightly, "Only in my case I know that I find some guys...kind of attractive...but I've never felt for any of them what I feel when I'm around Troi...or you."

"Ah..." Muku said, still trying to make sense of what was becoming an undeniable realization.

"So...has anyone ever flipped your switch or made you feel glad to be a woman?" Yumi asked, "Have you ever felt attracted to anyone at all?"

"Y-Yes..." Muku said in a very tiny voice, glancing down at the flowing canal water.

"Then...who?" Sakura asked with a note of genuine hesitation.

"With...Rhea," Muku managed to get out through a tightened voice, "Last night...in my room...we...we almost..."

"You almost gave my sister everything that she has been wanting from you since the beginning."

Muku was not the only one to turn with a surprised gasp, seeing Atros hovering there in the air above the canal water only a few meters away, as if she had been there all along without their seeing.

"You know?" Muku wondered.

"I knew all along that Rhea was making progress with you," Atros said, "Since the moment I awoke to find myself a changed Bioroid, I knew that your bond with Rhea was strong...stronger than any bond short of that which exists between her parents. I was an accident, created when my parents were briefly partnered together, and yet a bond exists between them too, just as one exists between you and Sakura here. I know that my mother suffered much when my...human mother sought to sever relations with her...with all the C'thuwulf...for reasons very much like what you were feeling today."

"You mean...Troi...?" Sakura asked.

"She lives with that rejection fresh within her memories," Atros said, "As my memories are at least partially patterned after hers, I know what she knew back then...just as I understand what motivated you to say the things you did to my sister. But...consider this well before you express how trapped and limited you have been feeling since becoming Rhea's partner...if you are an unwilling conscript, think about what it feels like to be an Iczer."

"You mean...because you guys don't have any choice about who becomes your partner?" Yumi asked.

"Exactly," Atros replied, "We may look like you, we even share much the same internal construction as you...but we are not like you in one very important matter. We were born to be weapons, we are warriors by birth, not choice. Our genetic design makes us living transducers who convert life energy into raw power...and the power of the spirit, will and emotion is the fuel that gives us life. Cut us off from the source of that power...and we die."

Muku looked up sharply at the Iczer, "Die?"

"We die a little without the love of our partners," Atros explained, "We die in fact when we run out of our own internal supply of life energy. Combined with a partner in full synchronization we are an unstoppable force, but deprived of that cohesion...we wither on the vine. It happened once before with my Aunt One when she lost her original partner...a part of her died on the homeworld...and only came alive again when she bonded with Nagisa."

Muku had a moment of sudden clarity in which her memories revived, her vision of a previous life and how Iczer One had gained and lost her original partner...killed because her people had accidentally awakened a ghost from their long-ago past...and that evil had awakened to nearly destroy them all. Big Gold was nothing more than the echo of a long dead race whose hate had extended far beyond the grave, and against the evil she represented there stood only a handful of Iczers, each of them entirely dependent upon their partners.

"Kami-sama...goddess...what have I done?" Muku asked, trembling all over as the words she had thoughtlessly hurled against the innocent and guiltless Rhea...and all because she was blaming everything on her...holding Rhea responsible for the crimes committed against her own people! And the hurt in Rhea's eyes...the feeling when she withdrew from Muku's presence, as if a part of Muku's own soul were being torn from her body...

"I would say that you have some fence mending to do, as my mother might put it," Atros noted, "The war is about to hit a new fever pitch, and there will be no one spared if Big Gold and her legions prevail. You are one very crucial part of our defenses...and now I am another part of that same defense. I do not know if Ken-san and I are truly suited for each other, but we have synchronized, and thus we have no choice but to stand as one. I am sorry if that hurt you in any way, Saotome-san...but I must borrow your...fianc e...even as you must link with my mother."

"I...think I understand," Sakura said, "And I don't hate you for it...even if I do wish you'd picked someone else. It really screws up things something awful if he winds up marrying you and breaking our engagement."

"I know," Atros faintly smiled, "Somehow I must make it up to you sometime...I don't know how, but if we survive..."

"Right," Sakura said, "Just one thing...if we do live, then you'll be the one who has to explain things to my parents and Ken's grandfather."

"That will be...as it must be," Atros faintly nodded.

"Don't be so quick to volunteer for this," Yumi cautioned, "You haven't met Ken's mother."

"Right," Sakura half-smiled, "Which means you'll have Aunt Nabiki for your mother-in-law, and I wish you luck on that."

"I...I have to go," Muku said, "I've got to find Rhea...I've got to make her listen...I...I'm sorry about what I said..."

"I believe you," Atros folded her arms, "But I'm not the one you'll have to convince. If you do find my sister, then you have to show her that you really mean it."

"But...how...?" Muku wondered.

"Just be yourself," Yumi shrugged, "Clueless or not, you're honest and real enough that people believe in you, even it it's only because they know you don't have enough imagination to fake it."

"Uh...right, I think," Muku faintly murmured.

"Just one thing," Sakura said, eyeing Muku with a peculiar expression, "If you have any doubts about your sexuality...then let's just conduct one test to make sure you really are into this."

"Test?" Muku turned to ask her friend what she meant by that, only to find herself being drawn into the arms of her longtime rival and best friend, and before she could ask what was about she found their lips pressed together, and then she was kissing Sakura, and after a moment of surprise she started to respond to the other girl's very gentle-yet-passionate persuasion.

When at last their mouths parted she found herself looking Sakura directly in the eye, the wonder of it all making her head spin as she had never once considered Sakura in this peculiar angle before, and once again it was like looking for the first time into the eyes of a stranger.

"Convinced now?" Sakura asked.

"Well, I don't know about the rest of you," Yumi smirked, "But I'm sure as hell convinced."

"Agreed," Atros smiled, "Now you are indeed ready to confront my sister."

"Ah...right," Muku said, slowly turning away with the same wonder in her eyes as when she had looked upon Sakura, only now she felt as though a weight had been lifted from her shoulders, and her feet felt somehow lighter as she started picking up her pace, soon running like the wind as she went in search of her heart's fervent longing...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Groveling for Forgiveness: shadowmane

The battle of the Tenmas gets into high gear as Fiber plots her revenge and Muku goes in search of some fatherly guidance, while Rhea herself gets some much-  
needed counseling, and the Senshi form a counsel to hear the account of how Yui and the others have been seduced by the Lemon side of the Force. Be here next time for: "Nova Kano, Nova Duo," or "Will the Real Tenma Saotome Please Sit Down!" Be there!

X -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	34. Chapter 34

Earthchild34

The Earthchild

(A Ranma/Iczer/Sailor Moon Crossover)

by Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi,  
Naoko Takeuchi, Toshihiro Hirano,  
&amp; Hitoshi Okuda, with ideas and suggestions by TH Tiger and Johannes Huber)

Chapter Thirty-Four.

Fiber knew that convincing her "Sisters" to go along with her scheme was simply a matter of taking advantage of their inactive state to work a little "reprogramming" magic, and imagine her delight upon discovery that the C'thuwulf had already devised an "Anti-Gold Virus" counterprogram and worked it into their systems. With that Fiber had been able to correct a condition that she had not even previously been aware of in her own matrix, but one that give her new insights into her former so-called "Masters," adding fuel to the fire of a righteous anger that demanded retribution.

The irony was that the C'thuwulf had healed the bodies of her fellow Bioroid sisters but they had not been able to do similar repair work on their personality matrices, not knowing the extent to which each one of her partners had been corrupted from their original profile. Fiber, however, had the inside tract on just what had been done to each one of them by Neo Gold and could-  
through her own unique powers-unravel the tangle of their thoughts to separate false memories from the original persona, helping to heal a rift of which each of them had been previously unaware. That done the real story behind their origins came to the fore as the real woman emerged from behind the faux design that was News Gold's creation.

Golem-an engineer whose intuitive love and understanding of machines had been matched only by a love of sports vehicles and driving fast in races. A near-  
fatal accident had left her crippled and barely alive, needing machine support for her continued existence as bitterness replaced her former love of life, a bitterness tempered by a belief that her injuries were the result of malicious tampering by a rival sports driver...

Insect-an Etymologist assigned to a colony world to study rare and exotic forms of insectoid life, the sole survivor of her colony that was devastated by one of her very own discoveries, a locust-like species whose hibernation cycle had ended shortly after the establishment of the small research outpost. Guilt had driven her partially mad since she had been too late in discovering a means to resist the insectoid venom when it had infected her fellow colonists, but she alone lived on thanks to her discovery as she was able to "blend in" with the swarm and-by altering her own biochemistry-become as one with their colony, discovering their hive-intelligence and gradually by stages becoming their human sovereign...at least until Neo Gold could recruit her for her talents...

Bigro-a research Biologist turned Eco-terrorist when her sympathies had switched from humanity to the wild creatures of her world that organized business and government were hunting to extinction. She had crafted her own pet hybrid creature to serve as her protector and named him Iota, and used him to "punish" her enemies by hunting them down and luring them to their doom one right after another. As with Fiber, she had justified these crimes by claiming vengeance to right the wrong caused by the death of a parent, but as with Fiber's own misguided crusade, her retribution had been all out of proportion to the actual crimes visited upon her. She was well on her way to becoming a monster when News Gold finished the job and gave her even greater cosmic powers.

They were the sole remaining members of their respective worlds, and every one of them was many times over a vicious killer whose conscienceless acts and unconscionable deeds surely doomed them to whatever sort of cosmic Hell was reserved for destroyers of their magnitude and order. Yet alone they each would have lived and died petty lives without inflicting one tenth the suffering that they had caused as a unit, and all because News had recruited them and expanded on their innate abilities, all for an insane cause of mass destruction aimed to greater glorify the power of News as she quested to become a Cosmic conqueror of a vast galactic empire. Surely their crimes could never truly be forgiven, but Fiber had learned of another way by which the wrongs done to them could be righted, and by which they could be turned towards the path of light.

And so the pattern-weaver wove her greatest tapestry of all, enmeshing both herself and her sisters in special cocoons that would conduct the alterations that would be needed to create a new and better team of sisters. She probed their minds and reworked the patterns of their thoughts by exposing them to truths to which each of them would never willingly have conceded, helping them to grow beyond the monstrosities that they were, to regain their lost humanity and-by turns-to forge a new and stronger identity, even as their bodies were remade within the workings of the Subspace field. Their chrysalis-like cocoons would help remodel their very karma, and with luck in a few more hours they would each emerge greatly changed, and for the better.

Soon News Gold would discover just how capable her so-called creations were of growing beyond her evil. Soon the sleepers would awaken, and like butterflies stretching out their wings they would spread their new bodies wide to the cosmos and show the Universe a brand new and improved Sisterhood of the Comet, and on that hour...let Big Gold herself tremble, for her minutes would at last be numbered. Fiber knew that she herself would be changed, just as the power of love had changed her, the love for a father and brother long dead whose echo in the present was the handsome boy named Saotome Tenma...

"Bad move, Sucker," Tenma told his counterpart, "Game over...now...you gonna tell me who you are and who really sent you?"

The Doppelganger Tenma could not believe what was happening. No way could a mere human do what this boy was doing-had done, as a matter of point! He struggled helplessly against the chains that imprisoned him, springing up from all directions to hold him immobile in their web, a helpless fly caught in a spiders web of pseudo-creation, his bonds forged from the raw stuff of subspace itself and harder than steel since their existence was the result of a powerful and focused imagination.

Worse still, the real Tenma had conjured up some sort of powered harness around his body that made him look like a cross between an armored night and a walking human cannon. Guns-no, make that artillery launchers-so big that they would have drawn a normal boy's arms to the ground like lead weights, were currently pointing directly at the Doppelganger, with Tenma ready to pull the trigger on his other self for the slightest provocation. Somehow these ridiculously contrived looking "Sci-fi" hardware rejects looked just real enough to be menacing, and the Doppelganger somehow sensed that they would prove highly effective if fired at him at point-blank range. Mere bravado would not do to forestall the inevitable here, and yet somehow-for all that-the Doppelganger Tenma remained defiant.

"Go ahead and use those if you've got the guts," he said to his original counterpart, "But I ain't surrendering...not to you, not to Baba Cologne, not to anybody!"

"Too bad," Tenma said as a loud click made it plain that he was cocking his weapons, "'Cause I ain't bluffing, you phony..."

A very surprising thing happened just then, before Tenma could pull the trigger and destroy his counterpart a young girl hurled herself into the way with arms spread wide and a frantic cry of, "STOP! What are you doing? Are you trying to kill him?"

"Huh?" Tenma blinked as he found his weapons pointed at Taro Yuki, the young girl blocking his perfect shot with her all-too-fragile body. He hastily let go of the trigger and said, "What the heck are you doing? Get out of my way, you Baka! Do you wanna get hurt?"

Yuki next surprised him by doing another thing that was wholly unexpected. All at once Tenma rocked back on his heels as her tiny hand slapped his face hard, the anger in her eyes making it plain enough that-to her at least-he had suddenly become the bad guy.

"You aren't Tenma!" she haughtily declared, "My Ten-chan would never threaten anybody who couldn't fight back, and with stuff that nobody human could conjure up out of nothing!"

"Hah?" the Doppelganger blinked, stunned to see the young girl defending him in such a defiant manner.

"What the heck are you talking about?" Tenma let go of his guns and let them fall to the ground while he cupped his own burning cheek, "I'm the real Saotome Tenma, honest!"

"Oh yeah?" Yuki sneered, pointing at his discarded hardware, "Then what do you call that?"

"Hey, it's just a trick I've learned how to do," Tenma replied, "I can conjure stuff up out of subspace and make it real with my mind. He's the fake one here, not me!"

"Oh yeah?" Yuki folded her arms over her tiny chest and looked defiant, "Prove it."

"Oh my," Cologne mused as she stepped forward, seeing the non-plussed look on Tenma's face, and the uncomprehending look of astonishment in the expression of the Doppelganger, "I do believe that young Taro-san has you there, my Boy. How exactly do you go about proving which one of you is the real Tenma and which is the mere copy?"

"Hey, that ain't funny, Granny!" Tenma protested, looking past the irritating girl towards his counterpart and saying, "He's the fake one, can't you tell? He may look like me, but he's been impersonating me while I was stuck in subspace getting special training."

"A likely story, you Fake!" the Doppelganger countered, hoping that he could play his cards and somehow reverse this whole situation, "You show up while I was talking to Yuki-chan and start hurling these wild accusations..."

"Wild accusations?" Tenma blurted, then blinked and said, "Did you just call her Yuki-chan?"

"I...ah...huh?" the Doppelganger blinked, then all at once he colored an appropriate shade of crimson as he saw Yuki turn a questioning look in his direction, "Ah...I mean...well...what's that got to do with anything? So we're friends...she's a girl...what about it?"

"Friends?" Tenma blinked, "Since when?"

"Since a few days ago," the Doppelganger said with a defiant outthrust of his lip, "When I had an argument with her brother and she took my side over his..."

"That's because my brother was being such a Baka, just like you," Yuki turned back to the real Tenma with an angry glare, "Attacking people without asking is just so like Honma."

"HUH?" Tenma glared, less than sanguine about being compared to Taro Honma."

"Let me see if I can help clarify things here a bit, Children," Cologne remarked, then used her staff to tap the chains binding the other Tenma, causing them to shatter into fragments, "Let us try going about this in a more civil way, without the heated rhetoric and histrionics. Is that agreeable to you, young man?" she directed herself towards the Doppelganger.

"Ah...sure," the Doppelganger replied, knowing far better than to put up any kind of a front before this particular human, whose abilities far dwarfed anything that he could even imagine.

"Then begin by telling us your story," Cologne replied, giving him her most uncanny gaze, "The real story, and without prevarication."

"Huh?" Yuki asked, turning a questioning look from the old woman to her new "boyfriend."

The Doppelganger looked from the old woman to the young girl who had just so valiantly defended him, then he glared at his counterpart and said, "You gonna keep him in line?"

Tenma started to open his mouth to say something about that, but Cologne cut him off with a decisive, "He will mind his place until such time as we know the facts regarding how you came to be substituted for the real Saotome Tenma. I can see that you two are more alike than either one of you would feel confident in acknowledging, but the facts are plain enough to anyone with an eye to see that you are not my erstwhile student. You are a very good likeness of him, and your personality is genuine, but you are not the Tenma that I have known since the day he was delivered into the world, and pretending otherwise will avail you nothing."

The Doppelganger sighed, then looked regretfully at Yuki before saying, "Okay...I'll tell you what you want to know...but you gotta believe me, I ain't proud of what I've done. It wasn't even my idea, okay? I'm just a soldier doing what I was told by my creator..."

"Just following orders, huh?" Tenma frowned, but at a glance from Cologne he subsided into a quiet scowl and resolved to hear the imposter out...if only so he would know what all he had been missing during the time he had spent around Fiber. If he did not like what he heard, however...well...that would be another story...

"Okay, I'm here," Yumi announced as she teleported into the crystal throne room of the Silver Moon Palace, "Now what's the big deal that's got everybody so...huh?"

Yumi found herself being confronted by her fellow Senshi, both younger and older, including two versions of Yui-chan, only there was another present who did not fit into the general pattern. She gaped a bit in astonishment then said an astonished, "You?"

"Hey, gang's all here and all that," Nova replied, "Neat how you guys can do that...not like I can teleport, of course, but then you're human and not Iczers, but I won't hold that against you."

"Yumi-chan," the radiant form of Neo-Queen Serenity spoke from the throne in a gentle voice that reverberated all through the cavernous chamber, "We're so glad that you could join us. We were just discussing how you and Yui-chan here got the rest of you involved in the affairs of some alien group calling itself...I believe you called them the C'thuwulf, Rini-chan?"

"Uh...yes, your Majesty," Rini addressed herself toward her mother before glancing back at Nova, "The same people that she belongs to, only they're not all like her. Nova here is a branch of their race that calls herself an Iczer..."

"Hey, the technical term for me is Bioroid," Nova replied, "And yeah, I'm an Iczer, one of an exclusive group of living war machines and all that. I'm also partly human, though, and I'm just as organic as any of you Terran types if you'd like to check out my anatomy...on second thought, why don't I check out your anatomy, Yui-chan, just to make a comparison between the three of us together?"

The two Yuis (Sailor Deimos and Phobos) exchanged troubled looks about that then as one chorused the words, "No thank you!"

"Young lady," Lady Mercury addressed herself towards her daughter, "Is it true what Rini has said about you spending time with these C'thuwulf in activities of a highly personal nature?"

"Hey, I wasn't the only one!" Yumi protested, sensing that she had somehow been designated as the official "fall-guy" in this meeting, "Just ask Rini-chan what she's been doing with a lady named Nami!"

"Nami?" Neo-Queen Serenity inquired as she turned her focus back on her pink-  
haired daughter.

"Ulp," Rini visibly winced.

"Sounds to me like the rest of you have some explaining to do," Makoto (in male form as the Lord Sailor Jove) remarked, giving both of her daughters a very frank study.

Meiko and Reiko (Sailors Europa and Io) both quailed at the look their parents were giving them, even as Karma (Sailor Triton) was giving her own parents a nervous appraisal. Only Kiron (Sailor Chiron) alone of the younger Senshi seemed more aloof and amused than concerned about the entire matter, eyeing her fellow second-generation cousins with the superior look of one who had done nothing for which to feel guilty.

"This gets more interesting by the moment," Setsuna (Lady Pluto) remarked as she shared her daughter's silent appraisal.

"No kidding," Haruka (Lady Uranus) softly nodded, "Obviously we haven't heard the full story yet, either that or Princes Moon here has been editing out a few significant details."

"Hey, you wanna know what's going on?" Nova smiled, "I can tell you that!"

Both Yuis gained mutually panicked expressions as they heard their mother say, "Do tell? That's very interesting, right Ryoga-kun?"

Her husband-one of the only ones present who was not currently wearing a fuku-  
-nodded his head as he replied, "We've obviously been missing out on a lot that's been going on lately, and I-for one-would like to hear more details."

"Well, where would you like me to start, Dad-in-law?" Nova offered brightly, "I'm ready to prove myself by telling you everything you want to know about the C'thuwulf and the stuff they do to be friendly to outsiders..."

All at once the two versions of Yui rounded on the cherry-haired Nova and with perfect timing landed a punch squarely on the same jaw. Nova crumpled to the floor, out like a light before anyone knew what had happened, at which point Sailors Deimos and Phobos high-fived one another as though they had wanted to do that for a very long time now.

"Wow," Yumi noted, "Glass jaw...who would have figured..."

"About time somebody put that blabbermouth in her place," Rini murmured under her breath.

Their short-lived triumph, however, ended quickly as Neo-Queen Serenity leaned forward on her throne and said, "Is there some reason why you just did that, Yui-chan, or don't you want us to hear what your new friend was about to tell us?"

"Yeah," Lady Mars scowled darkly, "Like why she keeps referring to you like the two of you were married."

"I knew it," Ryoga whimpered, "Our daughter's been taken to Stonewall!"

The rest of those present dutifully ignored him, Queen Neo-Serenity looked at her own daughter and said, "Rini-chan...why do I get the impression that you know more about this than you've been telling us so far?"

The Princess winced at the tone used by her mother, but it was obvious that none of the Elder Senshi would be satisfied with less than the full truth. She turned an almost apologetic look towards Yumi, who seemed to get her silent drift, nodding in acknowledgement of the task that had just been assigned her.

"If you really must know, Majesty," Yumi spoke up, "My best friend, Muku-chan, is really at the center of everything that'd happened. Through no fault of her own she became involved with the C'thuwulf people...and that's how I got involved, only it hasn't all been culture shock and hardships, in fact, I think maybe there's something about these people that oughta bear with a closer study. In fact, I think they might have some long-forgotten connection to the ancient Moon Kingdom..."

"Oh?" her mother, Lady Mercury, asked, "You think so do you?"

"Sure thing, Mom," Yumi replied, "In fact, wait'll you hear what I've learned about their culture by talking one-on-one with some of their technicians..."

Rini made a silent prayer to the Powers and the Planets for Yumi's gift of gab, which could be so wonderfully diverting and distracting when you wanted desperately to change a particular subject. With her usual ability to spin a web of partial truths into a college level dissertation she should in no time have the older Senshi enthralled in tales of how an ancient link between the Moon Kingdom and the C'thuwulf, a subject sure to drive away all thoughts of how Yumi obtained that information through "pillow-talk" and just generally being nosy.

The less she had to explain about their "interpersonal relationships" with the C'thuwulf themselves the better...not that she was ashamed of what she had done, of course, nor did Rini really think that her mother and the others would have trouble understanding about their daughters having relations with other women, being that they were pioneers on that subject...which in a sense was part of the problem. Nothing could make a parent more nosy than a memory trip to their own bygone days of youth...and nothing could be more hypocritical in the extent of their overreaction, if Yui's mom were any indication of things that were certain to follow...

"Great, just great," Ken murmured to himself, "Where could Muku-chan go to have it out with her girlfriend...and why am I suddenly the last guy to know about this stuff? I really must be slipping."

He paused just outside of a nearly deserted park that was a few blocks away from the Furinkan campus, not the least bit surprised that Muku had not come to this particular favored haunt of hers, though Ken was rapidly running out of other options. Ucchans? No, that would mean running into Sakura's parents and having to answer a lot of really awkward questions. Cologne's teashop? Ditto that! The old woman had ways of working information out of a guy that Ken was truly in awe about, but in the state of mind Muku had been in he rather doubted that she want someone like that to referee a romantic "bull" session.

Same reason for crossing Muku's house off his short list, that left either the construction yard or the skating rink as places where Muku liked to frequent. Sanzenen had a really big thing about watching the Labor construction machines when they were at work, big robots being a major fascination for her...but then again that worked against this situation since the last thing Muku would want to be reminded out just now was giant robots. That left the skating rink, which was on the other side of the Furinkan financial center, a good three kilometers march, but by far the best chance he had of catching up to Muku and-just possibly-meeting up with his new girlfriend.

He winced slightly about thinking of her in those particular terms, but there was nothing particularly unpleasant about Atros that would exclude her from consideration on other levels besides romance and engagement. He really was becoming quite fascinated with the ebony-haired Iczer, wanting to know more about just what this "Synchronization" business had to do with him, as well as possibly finding out if she was really as stand-offish and aloof as she tended to project. Looking in her crimson eyes was like seeing a mirror reflecting infinite depths, and there was a vulnerability to her that belied her aura of impressive strength and nominal independence. Just the sound of her voice alone gave him a curious thrill that he had never felt around Sakura...

"Heh," he muttered aloud, "Just listen to me...you'd think I was falling in love or something. Still...it would be nice to know if maybe she might like to go out with me and...talk some more about her life..."

"Master Ken," a semi-mechanical sounding voice addressed him, "A moment of your time if you will."

"GAWK!" Ken jumped five feet into the air and whirled around, automatically assuming a defensive combat Crane stance, only the thing he found confronting him was hardly what he had expected, being all of four feet tall and looking like nothing so much as some Techno-demonstration model robot.

"My apologies," the blue-armored creature replied, "It was not my intention to surprise you..."

"Yeah, well...good job that," Ken awkwardly replied, not lowering his guard by the least, "Now who the hell are you?"

"I am Unit Seventy-Two, assigned to you as your Iczelion Armor," the robot replied, "The C'thuwulf made me and designed me to match your specific Biorhythmic patterns..."

"The C'thuwulf made you?" Ken blinked, "Out of what? Spare parts?"

"Hardly," the robot conveyed the impression of scornful derision for that answer, "I was grown from a seed and am composed of techno-organic matter, created for your personal use and protection. Shall I give a demonstration?"

"What do you mean...demonstration?" Ken replied.

"Say the command phrase for my voice activation code," the robot replied, "Charging up."

"Charging up?" Ken blinked, wondering why the code words were designated in English.

"Complying with Instructions," the robot declared, and then all at once it flew apart, even as Ken found himself bathed in the glow of a ray that emanated from the thing's visor, and for an instant he had the impression of his school uniform dissolving, leaving him briefly naked as the various component plates move to attach themselves to his body, a strange organic sheaf covering the exposed areas of his skin from the neck down to a pair of heavy boots that materialized around his feet, even as a helmet affixed itself to his head and a curious electrical thrill flowed all around him, leaving him a moment later covered in the heavy protective sheathing of form-fitting Iczelion armor.

"What in the name of the Tokyo stock exchange?" Ken exhaled as he glanced down at himself, finding that he even now stood about five or six centimeters taller than before and had a sense of near-invincibility all about him. He stared at his gauntleted hands that had left only his fingers projecting and realized that the robot had somehow become a part of his own body.

Sure enough, in his mind he heard the robot's voice declare, "Now we are an Iczelion Warrior, code name Azure. In this form you are fit and able to perform the necessary functions of a partner to an Iczer."

"Say what?" Ken blinked.

"You have at your command the power of the Iczerio," the robot patiently counseled, "I will show you how to tap into it and use our combined abilities in the service of this planet..."

"Are you saying that I'm now part robot?" Ken asked in mild dismay.

"Incorrect," the Iczelion informed him, "The near equivalent to what I this unit represents would be a Symbiotic Exo-skeleton transducer. We convert spiritual and emotional power into the raw force of the Iczerio..."

"Hybrid technology," Ken murmured as he instinctively caught on with the program, "Organic technology...just how much power do we have anyway?"

"You are welcome to test our new abilities," Unit 72 replied, "In fact, such a measure would be advised to help familiarized the unit so that we are ready to face our first real crisis. Link with me and we shall integrate bio-patterns to insure a smoother transition to active Iczelion status..."

"Wait a minute," Ken paused, "What you were saying before...you were assigned to me so that I could make a fitting partner for Atros?"

"Affirmative."

"And...where is Atros right now?" Ken privately wondered.

"This unit can take you to her," 72 replied, "Is this your preference?"

"Uh...yeah...show me where she is and take me to her...like, right now?" Ken tried to phrase the words politely, but they still sounded like a commandment.

"As you wish," Unit 72 answered, and all at once Ken felt the ground moving out from under him, and he turned in time to see that he was flying, the park leaving him behind as gravity itself ceased to have any relevant meaning.

"WHOOOOOOOooooo!" Ken exclaimed as he fought for balance, then found his flight path stabilized with just a bit of effort, "Give me more of a warning when you're gonna be doing that in the future, right?"

"This Unit apologizes," 72 to replied, "Open your thoughts to this unit and we will establish a less unsettling means of conveyance."

"Now you're talking," Ken smiled, right before he and the Iczelion armor vanished in a pixilated halo...

"I'm back, Mom," Troi reported, "How is she?"

"She didn't even say a word to me," Sister Grey replied, "She just went straight to her cradle and she's been there ever since."

"What, five, ten minutes tops?" Troi frowned as she stared at the huge vault-  
like chamber that housed the massive Iczer-Robo that was Rhea's personal Unit, "Okay, I'll see what I can do. Give us some privacy, willya? This is gonna take some fine tuning."

"Are you sure you're the one who should be doing this?" Sister Grey asked, "By rights your sister..."

"One has enough on her mind, and the same with Nagisa," Troi replied, a sober look coming over her beautiful golden eyes as she nodded, "Believe me, I'm exactly the right person to be doing this...'cause I been right where she is before, and you know how hard it was to pull me out of the funk I got into."

Sister Grey only sighed as her biological daughter teleported into the room, then she hovered a bit before landing down fairly close to where Rhea was sitting.

"Hey Kid," she nodded as she saw her niece sitting on the armored shoulder of her unit, "You going anywhere at the minute? 'Cause if you'd rather be alone..."

Rhea lifted her elfin chin from her knee and seemed to only just then acknowledge the presence of the older Iczer, "I would rather be alone...but...I would rather not be alone, Auntie. I know that does not make any sense, but..."

"Bullshit," Troi said bluntly, "It makes perfect sense, believe me. Mind if I sit down? I don't wanna come across to you like I'm lecturing or nothing..."

"What do you want to tell me?" Rhea asked with a disconsolate tone to match her expression, looking down at nothing in particular.

"Hey, it ain't like that," Troi said as she hunched down on her ankles, resting her weight on the balls of her feet as she brought her fingers together and too stared at nothing in particular, "I'm not telling you jack that you don't already know for yourself. Remember...I've been in your spot, I know how much it sucks, and I really hate it when people try and tell me not to sweat it, that it'll all be better in the morning."

"And did you listen to them when they said this?" Rhea asked.

"Naw, I threw a fit and had to be restrained, even sent to my room without supper," Troi replied, "Made me feel better, though...you really ought to try it."

"I don't think so," Rhea said listlessly, "I'm...not like you, Auntie...I don't throw tantrums."

"No?" Troi arched an eyebrow, "You oughta try it sometime, it's very therapeutic. A little hard on the surroundings, but if an Iczer doesn't cut loose now and then we tend to forget just how much raw power we got at our disposal. You've always been a good girl, Niece, and I respect that, but there comes a time when it ain't enough to be just a good girl...you gotta live a little, walk on the wild side for a bit. Sure helps blow away the cobwebs though. Maybe you'd like to take it up with me in subspace?"

"Thank you, but...I...don't feel...up to it at the moment," Rhea sighed, her voice catching in a sob as if she were trying to be brave and failing rather badly.

Troi sighed, "Y'know, that's the problem with having total recall...I can still remember in perfect detail with absolute clarity the day Nagisa told me to shove off, the day our partnership was officially over. Sure, I'd only had her on a loan from One, but it hurt like hell, being told that we weren't gonna be playing games together anymore, that she had more adult stuff that she wanted to do, and it didn't include me in the picture..."

"My mother said that?" Rhea asked in surprise.

"Oh yeah," Troi grunted, "That...and a whole lot of other stuff you don't wanna hear. Talk about tantrums...when humans let loose it puts us to shame. Good thing we're the ones with the raw power, if humans cut loose like we can they could lay waste to the entire planet."

Rhea was sufficiently piqued to turn and look at Troi as she asked, "What did my mother say to you?"

"Oh...well...you know how it is," Troi winced slightly, "Stuff about how we'd always be friends and that she valued the time we spent together, but she was feeling kind of insecure and wanted to explore other options, not feel so trapped and resentful about it, that she never meant to let it get so far and that she really wasn't like what we were implying..."

Rhea's eyes went very round, "My...mother said all that?"

"Not in as many words, but that was the basic drift of it all," Troi responded, "Actually she wound up shouting part of it in my face, then apologized and told me she didn't really mean it, but I could tell where her thoughts were going, and I...I didn't want to come between her and my sister. She put One through hell before she finally calmed down and accepted that they really were meant to be together. She was a lot like Muku-chan, so scared by the big-bad 'L' word, as if labels were something you could change around like you'd change your dietary habits. Human cultures can be really weird about the way they stigmatize people to a perfectly ordinary and healthy occupation like sex...as if being with me would mean that she could never have children! Okay, I was a kid myself at the time, but I really didn't understand why she was treating me like that...just because I wanted to play with her and...she thought I wanted something else...which I probably did, though at the time I didn't even know what sex was."

"You?" Rhea asked with an incredulous expression.

"Hey, I was a dumb kid at the time, so sue me," Troi growled, "Why do you think I turned out different when I was just a few years older and finally had my puberty cycle? The minute I knew what it was I really wanted-BANG! It was like discovering religion! At first I was content to just fool around with our fellow C'thuwulf, but after a while I started to notice that there were other humans in the world besides Nagisa, and when I started making out with them it helped me to get over my feelings of rejection. All along I've wanted another partner just like her, but I figured-Hey-while I'm in the market I might as well play the field and live a little..."

"But I..." Rhea looked down again, "I can't...I can't be with anyone else. I want...I need Muku-chan...but...but she doesn't need me...she doesn't love me..."

"Bullshit," Troi said with contempt, "That's a lot of crap and you know it."

"What?" Rhea was shocked to hear her aunt speak in such a derisive manner.

"Humans don't always know what they want in this life, Niece," Troi explained, "They ain't direct like us when it comes to emotions, and they often say the exact opposite of what they mean, or mean the opposite of what they say...something like that. I don't mean that hoary old, 'No means Yes' crap, I mean when you ask them a direct question the last thing you often get with them is a straight answer."

"But...why is this?" Rhea asked in growing confusion.

"Something about the way their brains work," Troi replied, "I dunno...psychology is one of Mom's specialties, not mine. I just know that you can't take everything they say at face value...some humans lie like a soggy wet blanket, they tell you one thing and mean another. Most of the time they're either lying to themselves or lying to you to disguise the truth. In the former case it's mostly having to do with denial, a human vice by which they con themselves into believing one thing while they actually believe another. It can drive you a little bit crazy just trying to figure it out, but...after a while you just learn to take it in stride, not make such a big deal about it. No harm done as long as it's a lie told to spare their feelings or to keep their sanity in check when faced with an insane situation. I think your Muku's held up pretty well all things considered, using denial to keep herself from thinking out loud the things that her subconscious must have been thinking. After a while denial like that just tends to become a habit."

"I...don't understand," Rhea replied.

"I'd be worried if you did," Troi said frankly, "The question is...what are you gonna do about it?"

"What am I...?" Rhea repeated.

"You gonna give up because your Honey threw a fit and told you to beat it?" Troi asked directly, "You really think it's gonna be as easy for her to give you up like you were a Nicotine habit? Come on! She doesn't know what she was saying, and...in any event...you can't really guess at what her feelings are like until you face her again and ask if she really and truly did mean it."

"But...it's too late, Auntie," Rhea replied, "She doesn't love me..."

"And how do you know that?" Troi asked her, "Did you feel it?"

"I..." Rhea paused to consider, trying to sort out the tangled surge of emotions that she had sensed in Muku when the latter had made her terrible declaration.

"You see?" Troi asked, "You weren't thinking with your head, were you? You let her bull you into taking her at her word. So...when are you gonna take this lying down or are you gonna go back there and face her down like an Iczer?"

"Like an Iczer?" Rhea repeated in growing bewilderment.

"No Niece of mine is gonna turn the other cheek and let herself be trampled on like a doormat," Troi insisted, "It's bad for the image, and besides...you really don't believe that she can resist someone as charming and irresistible as you, now do you? She's gotta have better taste than that..."

"But...but how can I go to her if she doesn't really want me?" Rhea asked in a tone that was forlorn and almost pleading.

Troi blew a few loose strands of hair out of her face as she considered a change of tactics then said, "Oh...I see...you mean you're too scared to face her down and find out what her true feelings are like, huh? You think a little thing like being told to beat it ever stopped me when I knew the prize was worth the chance of getting my face slapped?"

"Auntie?" Rhea asked with a confused expression.

"Kid, I've been turned down more times than I can count," Troi insisted, "But over time I've learned how to tell the ones apart who really do want you to drop dead and blow away and the ones who are just a little shy about expressing their feelings. I've been all over this globe sampling the best and brightest of what humanity has to offer and I've been told off in almost every human language. Wanna know how fluent I am with the Terrans? I know how to say, 'Is your daughter eighteen?' in just about every tongue and sub-dialect you can name! I've even mastered the finer art of telling a girl that I've just spent a night of whoopee with that she's the prettiest girl I've ever seen, that I think she's really special and that maybe I could call on her later when her parents are out having a party. Of course I often lose their number, but I never leave anyone without giving them something to remember me by, just so's there's no hard feelings..."

Rhea blinked. Twice. Then she said, "You do that?"

"Hey, lying in the name of a good cause ain't really a sin in my book," Troi replied, "I know One and Two couldn't lie, or tell a joke to save their lives, but cognitive dissonance ain't really that hard a feat to master when you figure out the secret. The point is how you tell it, not what you say to them, in order to get them to drop their guard so you can get into their pants and sample some nookie."

It took Rhea a long moment before she could work up the nerve to ask, "And...have you done this with Sakura?"

Troi sighed, "An Iczer can't ever lie to her partner, Rhea-chan, you know that. The same isn't true for them with us...but we can usually feel when they're lying, so I guess we can call it even. And no...I never lie to Sakura...at least...not directly. Other girls, maybe, but not her. She's special."

"I see," Rhea paused, then blinked again before saying, "Um...no...I don't think I do. How...?"

"I'll leave you to figure that one out," Troi smiled, "Don't want your parents saying I've been trying to corrupt you with my bad habits. I'm just telling you that you shouldn't give up hope this easily that everything will turn out for the better. Persistence in the name of a good cause is a virtue...stupidity isn't."

"Stupidity," Rhea repeated, "Do you believe that it is...stupid for me to take Muku-chan at her word when she told me that she never wants to see me again?"

"You answer that one for yourself," Troi replied, "But I'll tell you up front, I never thought any niece of mine would grow up to be such a crybaby and a quitter."

Rhea rocked back on her seat at that, "I am not a quitter..."

"Could have fooled me," Troi replied, "Or else why are you sitting here sulking and feeling sorry for yourself when you could be out there finding out for sure if she really does love you or not? Nobody can tell you how she feels, you have to use your own means to feel her out. Running away isn't going to solve anything, and making excuses for doing nothing just means you're afraid of getting hurt again. You gotta learn to pick yourself up and start all over, not sit here pouting about a one-time blow-over."

"But...what if she really doesn't love me?" Rhea asked, "I...I couldn't stand to know that..."

"So you get your face slapped," Troi countered, "Same as with me, but you know I never gave up on trying to find the girl who was right for me, and if it ain't Muku who you're destined to spend the rest of your life with..."

"It is," Rhea said quietly, "I've known it in my soul from the moment we first met..."

"You can say that and still doubt yourself?" Troi snorted, "Then what the hell are you still doing here? Go out there and tell her that you're not taking no for an answer!"

"But...what if she's right?" Muku glanced away, "What do I have to drag her into my world when she was happy living in her world? Her friends have been in jeopardy because of me, she's been forced to confront things that she never wanted to know...about herself and about those around her..."

"Kid," Troi said patiently, "Stop a moment and tell me what you're feeling."

"What I'm...?" Rhea blinked.

"Stop letting your head do all the talking," Troi insisted, "Listen to your heart...what are you feeling?"

"I..." Rhea looked surprised, then her face lit up in wonder, "I feel...Muku-  
chan...the link between us...it's still there!"

"And what is she feeling at this time, here and now?" Troi continued.

Rhea's expression lit up like a star from within, "She's...calling to me? I can feel her...she wants me back!"

"Well, there's you're answer," Troi slapped her niece on the back, "So I'll ask you again, what are you..." she paused as Rhea faded out with an instant teleport effect, then smiled, "Well finally...we're making some progress..."

Down below and to the side, Sister Grey appeared on the railing, beaming up brightly as she said, "Very good...you handled that well."

Troi was just a bit annoyed as she turned to her mother and said, "I thought I told you to give us some privacy?"

"Would you have listened in my place?" Sister Grey easily countered.

"Heh...good point," Troi smirked, "Guess is runs in the family, eh?"

"You might say that," Sister Grey replied, "After all...you're now a mother too...and the day when you can tell me that what your child is thinking doesn't matter to you..."

"Hooboy," Troi sighed, "Atros. Tell me something...why am I suddenly supposed to be the responsible adult in the family?"

"Karmic payback for your past indiscretions?" Sister Grey asked in a teasing voice.

"Heh...figured it was something like that," Troi remarked as she got back to her feet, "Well, guess I'd better make my rounds then...just to see that my other Kid is behaving herself around the locals."

Sister Grey watched as Troi, too, faded out to the effect of pixilation then murmured to herself, "It's days like this that almost make it worthwhile to be a mother..."

Somewhere in the fortress citadel of Big Gold an army was assembled and ready to receive their orders. News Gold surveyed the ranks of her troops with grim satisfaction then nodded in silent anticipation of the battle that was soon to follow. Rows upon rows of Voids, Venomoids and Geos, the shock-troops of Gold's armada, stood ready to follow her into an attack upon the C'thuwulf world ship that-if successful-would spell the doom of their enemies forever. Though intended to be a diversionary force, their true success would be measured only when the enemy was contained in the trap that Gold was setting.

News turned her focus upon the external chronometer counting off the seconds until the C'thuwulf doomsday. Three and a half human hours left to go, when all of her forces would be gathered and fully armed for an all-out war to decide the fate of a galaxy. It was all or nothing this time with failure meaning certain destruction, and thus not to be contemplated...not that she had anything to fear since her mother's schemes were nearly flawless and had been plotted to the last detail, thus guaranteeing certain victory and a crushing defeat to their enemies, both past and present.

"Soon, Iczers One, Two and Three...soon..." she promised fervently, almost tasting the sweet vision of her three most hated enemies displayed in their wracked and ruined state of desolation when News would crush them under her heel and prove once and for all that she was the strongest of all her mother's children.

She spared a moment of disdain to contemplate the two new pawns added to their forces, who would be leading a different assault against the children of their rivals. News wished them well in battle but privately hoped that they would meet their fate the same way that Grey and his Sister had been vanquished. The last thing she needed was more competition for her mother's favor...the better to one day replace Big Gold and rule the Galaxy forever, a thought that brought a bitter smile to her visored face before turning about and marching imperiously towards the command ship that she would be piloting...the Destroyer of Worlds, which might well serve to justify its name before the day was done altogether.

The clock was indeed ticking down to Armageddon, and though the people of Earth were not yet aware of the doom hanging over their head they would soon rue the day that any had resisted the might of News Gold, their one true master...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Critical Junctures: shadowmane

The day of doom is near at hand, and yet Muku and Rhea have a crisis of their own that is in need of resolution. Be with us next time for: "Mending Fences and Pitching Tents," or, "Skating the Light Fantastic!" Be there!

X -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	35. Chapter 35

Earthchild35

The Earthchild

(A Sailor Moon/Ranma/Iczer One Crossover)

by Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi,  
Naoko Takeuchi, Toshihiro Hirano,  
&amp; Hitoshi Okuda, with ideas and suggestions by TH Tiger and Johannes Huber)

Chapter Thirty-Five.

"...And that's the whole truth, honest! I didn't hurt anybody and I did cause anyone any trouble...well...except for Honma, and Yuki will back me up that her brother started it, not me..."

"I see," Cologne remarked, "So you are only guilty of spying for an enemy, not actively participating in anything that would directly bring harm to the clan Saotome?"

"Ah...well..." the Doppelganger lowered his eyes, too ashamed of himself to even look at his counterpart, or at Taro Yuki, "Yeah...that's about the size of it, Baba. I was a spy meant to substitute for the real Saotome Tenma, but...well...let's just say that I ain't doing any more spying for Big Gold. I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't do it anymore...not since...well...since I found out some stuff that kinda changes the whole picture..."

"Changes the picture?" it was Yuki who asked this, "How?"

"Ah..." the Doppelganger half-glanced at her, then glanced away and colored abruptly, "I don't really wanna say...it's kinda...personal, y'know what I mean? And it involves oneesan...ah...I mean...your big sister..."

"My big sister?" Tenma blinked, "What do you mean? What's she gone and done this time?"

"Ah...well..." the Doppelganger winced, "It ain't that she's done something bad...but...it's kinda like the sorta thing she wouldn't wanna tell Mom and Pop about. I mean...you already know about the C'thuwulf, right?"

"Yeah," Tenma replied, "Fiber told me about 'em. They're all girls, right? And they come from outer space..."

"Well...I know from my memories that you already know about Iczer Two and her sister, Troi...you remember Troi?" the Doppelganger looked at his counterpart in order to stress this point.

"Yeah," Tenma replied, "She's kinda neat...what about her?"

"Ah...well..." the Doppelganger made a face, "She's kind of been...ah...well...she and oneesan...ah...well...I kinda overheard them the other night...makin' out together...ah...y'know like how Pop does it with Mom when he's in his girl form?"

"Huh?" it took Tenma a few seconds to finally grasp the significance of what his counterpart was saying, and then he winced, "With my sister? That's gross!"

"Yeah, tell me about it," the Doppelganger nodded, "I hadda listen to 'em going at it all night long. I was half surprised Pop and Mom didn't come to investigate. She was crying out and making all these really weird sounds and everything, and it sounded more like they was wrestling all over the place. I couldn't even shut 'em out if I tried, and believe me, I tried using filters an' everything!'

"You gotta be lying about that!" Tenma growled, "No way would my Sis be doing that under the same roof as our folks...!"

"You really think the bean-pole wouldn't do it if she thought she could get away with it or nothing?" the Doppelganger shot back with a stubborn thrust of his lower lip, "An' I ain't lying neither. She an' Troi have Synchronized...that means they're partners! Next best thing to getting' married as far as the C'thuwulf are concerned."

"Synchronized?" Yuki asked.

"Yeah, soul-bonded on an empathic level," the Doppelganger explained, "What one of 'em feels the other feels too, like having the red string of fate tied around their little fingers, an' don't ask what that means about her engagement to Ken, 'cause I hear he's got himself lined up with another Iczer who's Troi's daughter!"

"His daughter?" Tenma blinked, "How old is she?"

"Don't matter with Iczers," the Doppelganger said, "They can make 'em any age they like, even download all the knowledge and stuff that takes humans years to accumulate. She could be Sakura's age, maybe even as old as Mom if they want her that way."

"Ewww...I hope not!" Tenma winced, "That would be like...having Ken date my mother..."

At that both Doppelganger and Tenma made matching rude faces with near-identical retching noises.

"Boys," Yuki frowned, obviously disapproving of both their behavior and the general drift of this conversation.

"They do tend to be like that," Cologne noted dryly, evidently deriving quite a bit of amusement in the peculiar situation.

"So you see, this is really important stuff that Big Gold can't know about or else he'd have oneesan maybe killed or even kidnapped," the Doppelganger explained, "By doing that Big Gold could either cripple or get control over Troi and remove one of her enemies. That's why I changed sides, 'cause I may not always get along with big Sis, but she's a Saotome, and we gotta stick together..."

"But...you ain't really a Saotome," Tenma frowned.

"Hey, lighten up, Jerk!" the Doppelganger scowled, "Just 'cause I'm artificial don't mean I ain't got loyalties! When I copied you I made myself identical to you right down to the littlest DNA strand! Just 'cause I'm made from different stuff don't mean I ain't human where it counts, so...yeah...I got feelings just like you'd have in my place, so wherever you've been off to getting trained in Subspace manipulation for the last few days, I've been doing pretty much what you'd do if you were still on earth!"

"Oh yeah?" Tenma scowled back, "In that case, what are you doing hanging around with Taro Yuki?"

"She's a friend...ah..." the Doppelganger winced as he half-glanced at the girl in question, "Was a friend...she probably don't like me all that much on account of me being what I am...but..."

"Why don't you ask me first before you say a think like that?" Yuki asked him.

"Ah..." the Doppelganger turned to Yuki, but rather than meet her eyes he kept on looking down at the ground as he said, "Look...I'm me, okay...I'm sorry for lyin' to you an' pretending to be...who I ain't...and I know you probably think I'm some kind of a monster or something..."

"Well, that all depends," Yuki said, "What are you? I mean...what is a Bioroid anyway?"

"Like an android...only I'm made of flesh and blood and got a human-like anatomy," the Doppelganger half-glanced at Cologne, "I'm a perfect copy of the real Saotome Tenma, right down to the hairs on my head...and I sweat and bleed and everything. I eat food, I need to go potty...some of the time...and I even need to rest once in a while so my body can repair itself, just like with you humans..."

"I see," Cologne replied, "The better for you to infiltrate and pass yourself off as a real human."

Yuki seemed puzzled about something, "From what you're describing you sound very human...but how much of you is an android?"

"All of me," he answered, "It's one and the same thing for me. The moment I copied Tenma here my DNA pattern froze into its present arrangement. I'm stronger than a normal kid by a factor of ten, and I'm resistant to most diseases and stuff, I'm a bit tougher and harder to injure, and I'm definitely smarter and can do stuff like manipulate energies, a little..."

"Hey!" Tenma protested, "What do you mean you're smarter than me? Says who?"

"Says me," the Doppelganger glared, "You got a rotten academic record, you know that? You oughta try studying harder, put that eidetic memory of yours to work, you'd do better on your tests..."

"And you can never be anything else but what you are today?" Yuki persisted, bringing a surprised look out of both versions of Tenma.

"No," the Doppelganger replied, "Once I became Tenma, that was it. I could age and grow up to be just like him, but my matrix is hardened and I can't turn into anybody else. It was never meant to be reversible anyway...once Big Gold was done using me I'd just be tossed on the scrap heap like the rest of the obsolete refuse..."

"You're calling yourself refuse, young man?" Cologne asked.

"No, Baba," the Doppelganger replied, "But that's all I am to Big Gold, just another expendable soldier. I was only supposed to infiltrate the Saotome house to find out what secret combat technique Pop taught to Iczer Two and Troi, but she made me even better than she meant to, I think. I just know I don't wanna ever go back to where she is and have to report what a failure I am as a spy. She'd vaporize me as soon as look at me..."

"And what a shame that would be," Yuki mused, stepping forward and surprising the Doppelganger by planting a kiss on his cheek before saying, "Because I like you just the way you are, my Ten-chan."

"Huh?" the Doppelganger blinked, putting a hand to the cheek where he had been kissed and blushing up a storm while the other Tenma spoke up in outrage, "HEY!"

"Interesting," Cologne mused, "Even knowing the truth about him, you still favor this young man over the original Tenma?"

"I like this one better," Yuki replied, "He's less of a jerk than the real one anyway, which is probably why I felt like getting close to him in the first place."

"Nani?" the Doppelganger blinked again, "But...I ain't real...I mean...don't you hate me for lying to you, for deceiving you and everything...?"

"Yes, about that," Yuki gave him a somewhat sterner look an said, "Don't do that again. From now on I won't want to have any secrets come between us, Ten-chan, you're my friend and I won't hear anything bad spoken about you...do you got that?" she glared at the original Tenma.

"Huh?" the real Tenma blinked, then he got angry, "You're saying you like him better than me?"

"Well, after all, young Master," Cologne eyed the boy shrewdly, "Are you saying that you would rather be her boyfriend?"

"Boyfriend?" Tenma reacted, "No way! She's Honma's sister, for Kami-sakes..."

"So then you won't mind if young Taro-san here chooses your brother since he is not truly a rival?" Cologne asked rather mildly.

"BROTHER?" both versions of Tenma chorused.

"Brother," Yuki nodded decisively, "Say hello to your new brother, Ten-chan, the one and only Tenma. Hmmm...guess that means we'd better think up another name for you...hmmm...one that fits you, maybe, like Ten without the Ma on the end..."

"Ten and Tenma," Cologne nodded, "You could even say that they are twins and that you have only just been united after a lifetime's separation..."

"But that's nuts!" Tenma protested, "No way would Mom and Dad miss out on knowing that there was only one of me..."

"But this is not for their benefit but rather for that of your twin here," Cologne noted, "After all, he has taken great risks to himself in order to protect your family, which is hardly the action of an enemy, let alone one who is not truly human where it counts."

"Are you nuts, Baba?" Tenma flared, "He's been spying on my folks, and in some countries they shoot people for spying when there's a war going on..."

"Are you saying that you would rather see him dead, young War Master?" Cologne asked shrewdly.

Tenma hesitated by just a fraction, scowled, then said angrily, "Yeah...well...I'll bet he's been sleeping in my bed and using my locker and stuff..."

"What did you expect, Baka," the Doppelganger returned, "I've been you for the past week or so, of course I've been doing stuff just like you'd do in my place."

"That's enough, you two," Yuki said with surprisingly sternness, "Ten-chan, you may have been working for the bad guys before, but you don't owe them any loyalty now, right?"

"Are you kidding?" the Doppelganger replied, "Those guys ain't even loyal to each other!"

"Typical bad guys," Tenma snidely noted.

"And you," Yuki turned a cross look towards Tenma, "No more fighting with your brother...I get enough of that sibling stuff from my own brother, and you've got better sense than he does...or I thought you did anyway. Was I wrong about that?"

Tenma fumed a few moments before looking away and saying, "Aw...what do you know? You're just a girl..."

"Hey!" the Doppelganger flared up, "Don't talk to her like that! Yuki-chan is a very nice person..."

"That is enough out of both of you," Cologne said sternly, "As of this moment you are brothers, and you fight on the same side, for love and honor. Now...with that settled there's only one question that I have left..."

"Yes, Baba?" both boys asked, sulking a bit as they glared resentfully at one another.

"How...exactly does one get back home to our own dimension?" Cologne glanced around, "I might be able to find out on my own, but with a myriad of possible dimensions to choose from..."

The Doppelganger sighed, "No problem, Baba-sama...I'll show you how it's done..."

"...And that's my report," Yumi concluded, "And why I think it would be a pretty good idea for us to open full relations with these C'thuwulf to see if there really is a connection between them and the ancient Moon Kingdom."

"Well," Neo-Queen Serenity remarked with a fascinated expression, "It certainly does sound as if you've done some in-depth research here, Hermes. If these people are all you say they are, then it would indeed be a very good idea to contact them and learn first hand all we can about them and their possible relationship to our ancestors. And you say they have technology very similar to what my mother's people possessed?"

"Similar but very different, your Majesty," Yumi/Hermes replied in a formal tone of voice, the habit of courtly behavior coming natural to the setting as she added with a slight grin, "They have organic machines that they grow to fit their needs, much as our ancestors used crystals to augment their natural powers...but as you say, my research into this matter has indeed been in-depth and quite exhaustive."

Princess Usagi-Chibi/Rini just rolled her eyes and silently prayed that Yumi was not about to overplay her hand by the use of such double-entendres, having the fervent hope that their elders would not press for too-many details about that "in-depth" and "exhaustive" crack lest they stumble on the truth of what she and her fellow junior Senshi had been doing while visiting the C'thuwulf stronghold. She and the others were sweating enough as it was without Yumi allowing her usual enthusiasm to let the proverbial cat out of the bag on the issue of teenaged lesbian premarital sex, and the less her mother knew about that particular point the better in Rini's none-too-humble opinion.

Lady Mercury/Aunt Ami spoke up just then and said, "I have been doing some research to cross-reference ancient Moon records to confirm that there is some talk of a parent civilization living among the stars, a race entirely composed of beautiful women. Perhaps we should summon Luna and Artemis here so that they can confirm for themselves what they might remember from their previous incarnations."

"A good idea," Neo-Queen Serenity nodded primly, "See that it is done, Mars."

"Consider it done five minutes ago, Majesty," Lady Mars/Rei Hino replied with a slight smirk, "Artemis didn't look too happy about being interrupted, though...he and Luna looked like they were in the middle of something, and if I'm not mistaken they were at it again trying to give Selene some more brothers and sisters."

"Haw, serves them right after all the times they've done it to us," Lord Jove/Makoto Kino remarked gruffly, sharing a look with his wife that was equal parts vexation and amusement.

"Just one thing bothers me about all this," Haruka/Lady Uranus noted as she spared another suspicious look towards her daughter, Karma/Sailor Triton, "If these C'thuwulf are entirely female, and they have no men at all in their culture, reproducing artificially, as in the case of this...Nova girl you brought with you...does that mean that, in their culture, it is entirely natural for women to have relations with one another?"

"Oh, sure thing, Mom," Karma replied, "You and Mother would fit right in there, and so would the rest of us, in fact-OW! Watch it!" she turned a vexed look at the twins standing beside her.

"Ixnay on the etailsday," Meiko urged.

"You wanna get us all in trouble?" Reiko hissed at a barely audible whisper.

"Hmm," Neo-Queen Serenity frowned, having noted the very fine acoustics of her royal throne room, "In other words these C'thuwulf showed you all their hospitality, eh? We might have to return the favor sometime, eh Mars?"

"My thoughts exactly," Rei glared at her daughters Yui/Sailors Deimos and Phobos, then at the slowly recovering form of Nova.

"Oooohhh...what hit me?" Nova asked as she felt her jawline, "Anybody get the number of that asteroid...?"

Both halves of the person who in whole part was known as Yui Hibiki winced, a gesture that even their father (notably not the most observant person in the Universe) could not help noticing. The other version of Rei just scowled and paid a meaningful glance at her magically created twin sister.

"Well then," Michiru/Lady Neptune spoke up, "Perhaps you youngsters might care to introduce us old timers to your new friends in this C'thuwulf city of New Gamora, yes?"

"Oh yes, Lady Neptune," Yumi replied, "We'd be more than happy to introduce you."

"Good," Neo-Queen Serenity replied, "Then make the arrangements, Rini-chan."

"Sure thing, Mom," Rini replied before belatedly remembering her manners, "I mean...your Highness."

"Looks like this is one trip that I'll have to tell Mamoru-chan about when we get back," Serenity smiled at the Rei who was standing nearest to her throne, "From the sounds of things he probably wouldn't be too welcome."

"Not everyone has the good taste to welcome him into their bosom, I suppose," Lady Mars remarked before arching her tone ever-so-slightly and saying, "And maybe your friend there wouldn't mind playing the tour-guide...that is if you can convince her to keep her hands off of you long enough to make introductions..."

"Mom!" Sailor Deimos all but pleaded.

"It wasn't like her being here is our idea!" Sailor Phobos plaintively pleaded.

"Ooohh...you're so mean to me, Yui-chans," Nova said as she grabbed both versions of Yui by their shoulders and hugged them tightly, this time careful not to place herself in a position where they could retaliate, "But I forgive you anyway. I could never be too upset with my darling Yuis!"

As Deimos and Phobos winced in tandem, Setsuna/Lady Pluto casually remarked, "Well now, is this a sample of the sort of welcome hospitality that we'll be greeted with when we visit this C'thuwulf city?"

"Oh no," Rini replied, "Normally they're not that pushy and grabby, in fact they're very nice about welcoming us into their homes and..." she barely managed to slap a hand over her mouth in time as she belatedly realized that she had been about to give the game away with a thoughtless admission.

"Busted," Hotaru/Lady Saturn smiled, "I do believe that you have been avoiding that particular subject the whole time now, my dear."

"Yeah," Makoto drawled with an ominous expression as he regarded his twin daughters, "Just how much warm hospitality have these C'thuwulf been showing you anyway?"

The younger Senshi collectively shuddered, all save Kiron/Sailor Chiron, who smiled at the discomfort expressed in the faces of her peers and mused, "You've been holding out on me, haven't you? Suddenly I'm quite curious to learn first-  
hand all about this alien matriarchy. It does indeed sound as if they have much in common with the Silver Millennium, which-if memory serves right-was also a single-sex matriarchy...isn't that right, Auntie?"

Neo-Queen Serenity nodded slowly, musing to herself, "Luna's going to have to be doing some explaining when she gets here, assuming she can drag herself out from under that Tom-cat husband of hers to offer up a few answers about my mother's Kingdom."

"Can't even really call it a Kingdom from the sound of things," Lady Mars remarked.

"A Queendom sounds more like it," the other Lady Mars remarked, again eyeing the way Nova's hands were affectionately caressing her twin daughters.

"Help," both Yuis pleaded together, collectively wondering what Muku was doing at that moment, and how they were ever going to explain things about their relations with Nova Kano...

Muku arrived at the Sports Center and immediately went in search of the Ice Rink, wanting to create just the right mood and atmosphere for what she intended to do when she summoned Rhea. As she arrived, however, she discovered that the rink was already reserved and that a single figure was skating by himself at the center of the ice rink. To no real surprise she found her father practicing a complex series of pirouette-spirals that combined with other maneuvers could be devastating in martial arts combat, and Muku silently cudgeled herself over forgetting what time of the day her father normally worked out, with or without the accompaniment of her mother.

But still she wanted to talk to him anyway, so she tied on her skates and went out to see him as he finished putting some new touches on one of his favorite triple ax combinations. He ground to a complete halt when he saw that it was she who was rapidly approaching, so he turned and smiled at her like the proud father that he was and spread his arms out to her saying, "Muku-chan, come to have your old man give you a few more pointers?"

"Not this time, Dad," Muku replied as she embraced the older man very warmly, then parted from him with a serious look in her expression, "Dad...I...I've got something I want to ask you, and...I was wondering if you could spare me a moment..."

"For you, Little Starling?" Mikado smiled, "Always. So...what's bothering you now? Is your mother going on about doing homework?"

"No...it's nothing like that, really," Muku said shyly, suddenly very nervous about having to broach a subject like this with even her more understanding parent, "It's...kind of personal. Uh...Dad...when did you know that you were in love with Mom?"

Her father rocked back on his skates as he reacted to that question, and for a moment Muku was worried that she might have overestimated his tolerance level for things that concerned his "Darling Daughter," but then the older Senzenen recovered and said, "Oh...it's that kind of a thing, is it? Um...well...I guess it shouldn't surprise me. You're a popular girl in our school, and it's only natural that you'd find yourself someone who could warm your heart the way your mother warmed mine."

"Uh...yeah," Muku rubbed the back of her head and gave a nervous chuckle, "I've...met somebody, and...yeah...I think it's pretty special. Um...I just wanted to know...if it's the real thing or now...I mean...how can you tell for sure?"

Her father regarded her with a look that only fathers could master and said, "If you want to know the answer to that one, you've definitely come to someone who prides himself on being an expert. After all, before I met your mother I was a campus Romeo and Casanova with nine hundred and ninety-nine notches under my belt..."

Muku did not bother to hide her shocked expression, "Nine-hundred...?"

"That's the number of girls I kissed before I decided to make your mother number one thousand," Mikado replied, giving her a wry look before he added, "Why? What did you think I meant?"

"Um...just kissing, huh?" Muku relaxed by a fraction, "Nothing else?"

"Afraid not," Mikado smiled, "After your mother, that was the end of it for me. I never wanted any other woman and never shared myself with anyone but her, not even when there were...temptations in the path of true love. In overcoming those obstacles, however, I gained enlightenment on the meaning of true love and truer friendship."

"What do you mean, Dad?" Muku wondered.

"There are a number of questions you must ask yourself if you are prepared to skate on the icy pond of romance, Muku-chan," her father replied, "The first one is obvious...how do you feel when you see your new friend? How does he make you feel when he is near you?"

"He?" Muku blinked, "Ah...I mean...ah...sure, he...when I'm with...him...I feel...I don't know...like everything in the world makes sense, and I don't need to be afraid of anyone or anything, like the world is at peace and...and I have a place in it...only...it's a very scary place, and there are monsters in the world who want to destroy us..."

Mikado, unlike his wife, was far too perceptive to let a verbal gaffe slip by his notice as the slight hesitancy his daughter showed in the gender inflection showed him a story that he had been half expecting all along. He nodded, suspicions confirmed, and said aloud, "Well then, your friend passes the first test with flying colors. Don't know too much about the monster part, but I had to fight off enough of them for your mother's benefit, so...I take it your relationship is fraught with complications?"

"Oh yeah," Muku nodded, "Lots of complications. It's been complicated since the day we met, and the more I get to know her...him...ah...he...uh...well..."

"He," Mikado focused on the word but continued to smiling, "Sounds like a very special person. Are you as important to...him...as he is to you?"

"Ah..." Muku felt as though the game was up, but nodded anyway, afraid of what her father might say next as he clearly had seen through her verbal deception.

"I see," Mikado mused, "How strange...I didn't take your friend, Rhea-san, to be a transvestite in disguise."

"Ah...Dad..." Muku wilted.

"Did you know that there was once a slanderous rumor going around that your mother was a lesbian?" Mikado smiled.

"N-Nani?" Muku blinked.

"I didn't believe them, of course," Mikado replied, "And after laying a fair number of them in the horizontal position the rumor died down and became little more than a silent whisper. Still...the doubt had been planted in my own mind, and I started to wonder. It took a long time before I finally decided that it did not really matter to me all that much. Your mother is...what she is...and I thank the Kami for that simple gift. In time my doubts faded away as your mother...convinced me that I was important to her, but I never again ignored the way she felt towards other women."

"H-Huh?" Muku blinked, "You mean...Mom?"

"I doubt that even she's aware of the true nature of her feelings," Mikado continued, "But I know she gets along very well with Saotome Ukyo, her nominal former rival. I doubt that it's ever come closer than just sharing some warmth and affection, but...the feelings are there...just below the surface."

"But...how can you know?" Muku asked.

"Because I love her," Mikado replied, "And love sharpens your perceptions. You see things differently when you open yourself to the world of possibilities that love has to offer, and suddenly the limits that restrain us in this world seem to have no real meaning. So I know that Akane loves me...and loves me still, and so I can allow her to have feelings for others besides me. There is more to life than the selfishness of a love that is self-centered, or founded on the love of ourselves as we would prefer to be seen by both ourselves and by others. Real love has no real center...it brings us into closer alignment with the harmony of all nature. You'll understand someday when you know your own heart and find its match in another."

"Um...okay, Dad," Muku replied, feeling strangely moved and very confused at one and the same time.

"Muku-chan," Mikado said sincerely, "Having attachments to this world weighs us down with the burden of worry and regret. To truly fly upon the ice you must let go of your burdens, release your regrets and worries and let them fall away as you spread your wings to soar like the bird for which you are named. You don't need to fear for my disapproval...I can see in your eyes that you are sincere in your heart, and that is what truly matters.'

"But...but...you said there were other questions...?" Muku asked.

"That's right," Mikado said, "It's easy to feel love, but many kinds of love are ephemeral, like smoke. One day you feel it, the next...it's gone, and you're left wondering where it vanished. It was like that for me with every woman I met before I settled on your mother...I was drawn by beauty, I sought out innocence, and once I had tasted what I was seeking I grew bored with the chase and went in search of another conquest."

"Dad!" Muku was shocked to hear her father describe is earlier behavior in such terms. The very idea that her father had been such a womanizer was shocking, even though she had heard the rumors about his "misspent youth" being full of such encounters.

"So the question to be asked is not merely do you feel special, or even if this is a special person who feels good when you are around," Mikado said sincerely, "It's more a commitment that you share as if you are two hearts meeting in one center...like a dance you share, two bodies in motion but with a single spirit between you. The question to ask is...what would you give up to be with this person, and what would she give up to be with you?"

"Give up?" Muku considered the matter before she answered without further thought or hesitation, "Everything...all that I have...and I know she feels the same way about me..."

"If you know that, then you're already halfway there to knowing the truth of your relationship," Mikado said with a warmth in his gentle eyes, "I had to learn that one the extremely hard way, when I was forced to give up my own ego, my own pride, and what I thought at the time was my honor. True honor was unmasked when I found within myself the true definition of pride and manhood. In your case...I think the lesson will be somewhat different...but to know that you would commit yourself to the course is to know that you will discard everything that is an impediment, that is unnecessary to your goal...to find within you the thing that truly matters. And if your friend feels the same way...then you know that she, too, is equally committed."

"Commitment," Muku smiled a bit lopsidedly, "I feel committed already, Dad...or maybe I ought to be. It's scary...this feeling I have, like I'd do anything for her, and...and I know somehow...I know that she'd do anything for me. I was scared a little while ago...but now I'm not...does that make any kind of sense to you?"

"Oh yes," Mikado nodded with enthusiasm, "I know that feeling well. Of course many young people are willing to throw themselves into things without thought of the consequences, so just being committed alone is not enough to know that this is the kind of feeling that will last forever. Your mother wasn't willing to commit to me until she knew for certain, and I can't really blame her for being slow to warm up to my charms. To the best of my knowledge, only a handful of women ever resisted my charms, your mother being one of them, Ukyo and Kuno Shampoo being two of the others."

"What?" Muku blinked, "Perm's mother too?"

"Surprising, isn't it?" Mikado smiled, "Kuno Tatewaki is a lucky man to have such a loyal wife, and Ukyo...well, I don't think she seriously ever took any man into her heart except Saotome. There were a couple of others...but...well, that's enough dramatic revelations for now. The point is...you often have to work at a relationship. If it comes to you too easily it is easy to doubt, and often we let slip through our hands that which we secretly value. The better never to be hurt by never allowing love to touch us, just as my heart was untouchable before it was touched but good by your mother."

"I can't believe it," Muku said, "Perm's mother...and Sakura? Ah...by any chance, did you ever try to kiss Yui's mother as well?"

"Ah...well...she's a different story altogether," Mikado said with irony, "I think she did succumb to my charms, but I never got the opportunity to kiss her before her husband got in my way...and you know how persuasive he can be when it comes to making a point."

"Oh...yeah," Muku replied, wondering if there were something significant about the fact that her father had been thwarted in his attempted affairs with the mothers of three of her closest admirers. It almost made her wonder if Kano Nagisa or Iczer One were also missing from his list of prior "conquests."

"Of course your mother was quite the charmer in her day," Mikado noted, "And before me there were hundreds of would-be suitors chasing after her, none of whom even had a prayer of success before my first real competition became betrothed to her, Saotome Ranma."

Muku looked sharply at her father, not so much in surprise this time as in a sudden realization.

"Uncle Ranma was Mom's former fianc , right?" she asked, "But you won her away from him...?"

"It was by no means an easy victory," Mikado sighed, "And I'm ashamed to admit that I stumbled a lot along the way before learning my lesson and becoming a better candidate for marriage. The simple truth is that I wasn't as thoughtful and nice towards my competition as I am these days...but now that Ranma and I are very good friends, we can look back on it all and laugh at our boyhood follies. At least...on most subjects, that is..."

"Most subjects?" Muku repeated with raised eyebrows.

"Well..." her father looked extremely uncomfortable and refused to look at her as he replied, "You have to understand the sort of man I was back then. I was a champion skater, and proud of the fact, and I would often compete against other couples with my then-partner, Shiratori Azusa, and a major part of my battle strategy was to kiss the female partner of the competition. Well...there was that one time when this strategy...failed me rather badly...but how was I to know that the one I kissed was not all that she seemed at the time..."

Sudden realization hit Muku like a brick and with round eyes she gasped, "You mean you kissed...Uncle Ranma?"

Mikado gained a rather pained expression as if wincing at the memory, then he sighed, "Most painful lesson I ever had in not judging a book by its cover. Of course I didn't find out until sometime later about Saotome's little...secret...but when I did...I panicked..."

"Panicked?" Muku blinked, "Why?"

"Weeeeelllll..." it was amazing how long her father could stretch out a single word, "I can only imagine how concerned you were about...finding yourself attracted to someone of the same sex...well, can you imagine what it felt like for me to know that I had kissed another guy? Admittedly he didn't look like one at the time, but...you would have thought my nearly infallible instinct for such things would have come to my defense..."

"Dad," Muku interrupted the flow of words, "Are you telling me you thought you were gay...because you kissed Uncle Ranma?"

"It's silly...I know that," Mikado shrugged, "But young men are foolish, and it takes very little to threaten a man's ego. I prided myself as a man who understood the attraction of the ladies, but could a man magically disguised as a girl somehow confuse my finely honed senses? Could my instincts have failed me like some predators can be confused by the camouflage sometimes adopted by their natural prey? I had kissed a great many women before then, but I'd never truly valued any of them...perhaps there was a reason? You can see the drift of my thoughts back then, and though it all sounds rather silly today it gave me real nightmares back then, let me tell you."

"I can't believe it," Muku shook her head, "You are the most un-gay person I know, Dad..."

Mikado sobered, "Don't be so quick to judge that, Muku-chan. Age and experience have taught me what youth and insecurity could not. You're a good student of history, are you not? Do you recall what ancient Samurai believed regarding sex, love and marriage?"

"Uh...kind of," Muku said uneasily, "They were...kind of casual about it in the old days, but women were like second-class human beings in most families, so...what's the point?"

"The point is this," Mikado replied, "In times of old Samurai believed that the love of two men could be infinitely stronger than the love of a man to a woman, being the love of two equals."

"What?" Muku blinked, "You've got to be kidding..."

"I kid you not," Mikado replied, "Just as women were discounted as being inferior to a man, a man often regarded his marriage to be a mere necessity for the keeping of a house and the begetting of children. Wives were often assigned to him like a burden, his liege lord or parents would choose a bride based more on her position than any attraction that he might feel towards her. A woman was expected to obey his will and be attentive to his needs, not the other way around. The household was often divided into separate worlds belonging to men and women, but not both. A man could have his wives and concubines sharing the same house and keeping the Wa of his estate while a man trained himself for war, an occupation where only other men would be encountered and where women rarely ventured. In battle a man often relied as much on his companions as he did on his sword, his horse or his bow, and when a man could trust his back with another man, then he knew he had a brother who would lay his life down on his behalf. These days it is rare to encounter such feelings of comradely trust as wars are few and most men concern themselves with quieter, more domestic pursuits, but life had taught me that there are a few men in whom such trust is not misplaced...and one of those is Saotome..."

"What?" Muku said again with equal parts amazement and confusion.

"We never talk about it," Mikado said, "I doubt either of us have ever entertained homo-erotic thoughts of one another, and I doubt we will ever explore that option. But it is enough to know that Ranma would take injury on my behalf, and that I would injure myself to protect him, and what more than that needs to be said about a brother?"

Muku thought it over before saying, "I never realized you felt that way, Dad. I guess...maybe I need to think a little more about the way I've been approaching this. I...kind of panicked when I started to think I was getting in over my head, that I was jumping into something that I didn't really understand, and that I was making a commitment I might regret later. I was afraid of what you and Mom would think if you found out that I was getting involved with Rhea-chan, and...and I tried to chase her away..."

"I see," Mikado said, "And do you think you were successful?"

Muku looked down, "I...don't really know...but I need to find Rhea-chan and explain things to her. I want to make her understand that I'm sorry about what I said, that I never really meant it..."

"In that case," Mikado said, "You must ask yourself the third question. You may feel attraction, you may make a commitment, but attractions can come and go and commitments might be reconsidered in the light of new experiences. Therefore the question you must ask is...are you prepared to allow someone to love you for yourself, without hesitation or dissemble? Are you willing to let that person see the real you that hides beneath the shell that is the mask you wear before others? Can you let go of the mask and bask in the pure love of another...allowing them to love you for who and what you are, not what you would prefer to have them see in your place?"

"I...I don't understand," Muku replied, "To be loved for yourself and...not something else?"

"Muku-chan," her father explained, "We all wear masks to hide our real selves from the prying eyes of others. We have flaws and fear and petty qualms that we use to nit-pick ourselves into a sense of our inferiority to what we think we should be like. We are taught to maintain an appearance we call "normalcy" before our friends, ourselves and our loved ones. The saying we use in Japan is, 'The Nail that Sticks out shall be Hammered Down,' a rather quaint way of lauding conformity and eliminating the exceptional in favor of the ordinary sameness of the mundane and the common."

"Is there something wrong with being ordinary, Dad?" Muku asked.

"Not at all," Mikado smiled, "If you believe the ordinary. I'm not talking about putting ourselves on some mythical plateau above others, Muku-chan, I'm saying that to believe in the ordinary is to limit yourself to the mundane and the commonplace."

"I don't understand," Muku admitted, "Aren't most people ordinary?"

"If you were to ask them that question most would unvaryingly said yes," her father admitted, "But no two people are exactly alike, and everyone has something special within them that no other person has on the planet. Those individual traits which make us all unique as individuals, yet they get smothered beneath the blanket that we call 'the ordinary,' and all that is left is a porcelain mask, like a kabuki play, where the performers go about assigned roles and recite rehearsed lines without any improvisation. But we are dancers...skaters...we perform as an expression of what is within us. It is not within our nature to submerge that which is unique and special to bow down to the ordinary...and a secret that we know that others have forgotten is that there is no such thing as the merely ordinary. Everyone is special...every one of us unique and individual. The mask must fall away from our own eyes before we see the person we truly are, and only then can we show that person to another."

"And that other...is the one we want to see us?" Muku guessed.

"Exactly," Mikado replied, "I had created a mask that became so comfortable to wear that even I believed that there was no more to me than the shallow impression I made before others. How little did I understand back then that the mask was the very thing that held everyone else apart from me at a distance, that my belief was only self-delusion and it was keeping me from establishing any real ties to other people. In a way I owe it to Saotome for helping strip the mask away from me, and to Akane for giving me a reason to let the mask go, to let the real me rise to the surface like some lost war veteran who had been living inside a cave, blinking my eyes as they adjusted to the light."

He held a hand before his eyes, then let it fall to his side, smiling to the astonishment of Muku, who had a look upon her face like an epiphany, the impact of his words slowly sinking in as she reflected upon their meaning.

"I see you understand at last," Mikado grinned like the sun beaming down from between the clouds, "Muku-chan...don't worry about the future, or what is past. Think of where you are today in the here and now, and let matters fall where they will. You don't really need your old man to tell you where your heart belongs. Enjoy the gift of youth while you have it and don't be afraid of obtaining anyone's approval. I have faith enough in you to know that you can make your own decisions."

"But...what about Mom?" Muku asked.

"Let me worry about your mother," Mikado urged, then added in a conspiratorial manner, "But...just the same...let's not bring her in on this just yet. Let her have some time to get used to the idea of who you're dating before we bring her in on the big secret that she isn't on the football team."

"Right...got it," Muku grinned, then impulsively she reached out and hugged her father, saying, "You're the greatest, Dad...how did you ever get to be so smart?"

"Ah...that's a story best reserved for another time," Mikado smiled as he hugged his daughter, "But let it be a lesson to you not to underestimate your old man. Now...if you're all done wasting time listening to your elders go on about their past troubles, perhaps you might ask your friend to come down from the rafters so you can talk to her directly without her having to eavesdrop."

"What?" Muku let go of her father and turned her eyes up to the dome-like ceiling that arched above the skating rink, and-sure enough-she saw a familiar form perched amid the support beams and gasped, "Rhea-chan?"

Mikado backed away from his daughter, saying a pleasant, "You really should bring her over to our place once in a while so we can get to know her better. She seems like a very nice girl, and I'll bet she takes a lot after her own parents."

Muku only half-heard her father, her attention drawn to the sight poised so near and yet so distant. Almost without waiting for an invitation the flame-gold haired Iczer dropped down from her height and seemed to drift down to the place where Muku was standing, and then she touched down on the ice and looked into Muku's eyes, her normal shyness falling away as she gazed adoringly at Muku with no mask covering her emotions, no hesitation or denial serving to dilute the purity of the love she radiated towards Muku.

Muku struggled to find the words, then managed to stammer out, "I...I'm so sorry..."

Rhea stopped her words with two fingers pressed over her lips, "I know...I heard you say that."

"You...heard?" Muku blinked.

"I felt you call to me," Rhea replied, "I could not stay away. No matter what you said to me before, Muku-chan, the words that hurt and the pain you inflicted...I could never stay away from you. You're a part of my life...please don't ever forget that."

"I won't," Muku's voice trembled as she spoke from the heart, "I promise."

"I know you mean that," Rhea said, but then she looked down with sadness, "I've tried...as best I know how...to soften the impact on your life that...bonding with me has had...but there was truth in much of what you said. It is cruel and unfair that your friends have suffered and you've had to keep secrets from your family..."

"Rhea-chan..." Muku murmured softly.

"I never wanted anyone to suffer," Rhea continued, "I never wanted to pressure you or force you to confront issues that...were not of your choosing..."

"Rhea-chan," Muku said again.

"I wanted to give you more time...to adjust to things, to accept me for what I am," Rhea went on, "I wanted you to be sure of what you were getting if you accepted me into your life..."

Muku's hand on her chin surprised the Iczer, and Rhea looked up to ask what her companion was doing when Muku reached out and drew her into her arms and gave her a kiss that made further speech unnecessary. Though surprised at the bold gesture, Rhea swiftly responded to the kiss by slipping her own arms around her partner, and then the two of them got into the kiss in full earnestness, a melding of more than just mouths as the kiss lingered on for a time, tuning out all other awareness as the kiss became the center of their world. It seemed to go on forever, though in fact it lasted the bare space of a mere two minutes.

When at last their lips parted Muku finally murmured the words that were in her heart, "I'm sure about it now...and I accept you for what you are...if...you can accept me for what I am, Rhea-chan."

Rhea's smile was even more inwardly luminous than the smile earlier given by Muku's father, "I accepted you the moment we Synchronized, Muku-chan. There isn't anything about you that I don't know or desire."

"Rhea-chan," Muku murmured, then a mischievous smile crossed her face and she said, "Do you want to skate?"

"With you?" Rhea's grin became even more infectious, "I thought you would never ask."

She moved a little bit apart from Muku, and then her armored form shimmered, and suddenly she was wearing a short dress and had a pair of skates upon her feet, and Muku was delighted to see that their outfits actually matched from an aesthetic standpoint, almost as if they had coordinated fashions.

Muku extended her hand and Rhea took it, then together they started moving, their skates sliding across the ice with a soft hiss of blades upon frozen water, and together they started to move like synchronized dancers, the movements of one being perceived and responded to by the other...

Off to the sidelines, having already quitted the ice, Senzenen Mikado looked on and smiled as he saw the two young girls begin to perform an easy, casual set of maneuvers, growing bolder after a few moments as they started to stretch out their limbs and attempt more complex skating routines.

A voice to his side startled him, however, a woman's tone saying softly, "That was very well done, I thank you for kindness and your wisdom."

Mikado turned a startled look to see a woman with long blond hair standing beside him, dressed very oddly in what looked like form-fitting leather armor, shoulder guards protruding off to the sides and a profile that looked surprisingly like a more adult version of the girl named Rhea, which prompted him to say, "I beg your pardon?"

She turned to smile at him, "It's a very wise human who knows just the right thing to say to set his daughter's mind at peace. I only wish I had your gift for words, Senzenen-san...it would make my job as a parent that much easier."

Mikado cocked an eyebrow and said, "And you are...?"

"Rhea's mother...one of them, anyway," she replied, "You may call me...Kano Unus," she winced slightly the latter part of her name, "And like you I am a concerned parent eager to see to the welfare of my only daughter."

"I see," Mikado regarded the alien beauty and reckoned that she seemed quite young to be the mother of a teenaged daughter, "Then perhaps we have something to discuss, you and I..."

"Quite a few things I imagine," the golden haired (and pointy-eared?) woman replied, "Perhaps we should set up a date where our families can discuss things at length...but at the moment I am a bit preoccupied with planning for a major enterprise that will take much of my time and resources. When that matter is concluded, then we will chat about it."

"Very well," Mikado nodded, "I suppose we could set up a lunch date when you're not too busy."

"Hopefully that will be soon," the blonde replied, "I'll contact you and your wife when time is permitting. In the meantime, at the risk of repeating myself, I thank you for your understanding and wisdom."

With that she vanished from Mikado's side, disappearing in a golden halo that lingered for a second or two after her passage.

Mikado remained where he was for another long moment before turning back to watch the elegant duet taking place on the ice, and then murmured softly under his breath, "You do meet the most interesting people in this prefecture...which, I suppose, is why we keep coming back no matter where else we go, Akane-  
chan...and, somehow...just watching those two together, I think I understand. The future is well in hand, and I can't help but wonder what shape it will take, and...I very much want to see what comes of this particular union."

Unaware of all of this, Muku and Rhea continued skating together, blissfully unaware of all else but the beauty and grace of their bodies in motion, of two hearts joined by a single spirit with the motions of one complimenting the other in these final hours before an alien Armageddon...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Crisis to Infinity: shadowmane

The battle begins for the children of Earth as Big Gold launches her long-  
awaited offensive, but is it all-out war or just a prelude of things to come? Be with us next time for: "The Blue and the Gold," or, "Have Armada Will Slaughter!" Be there!

X -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	36. Chapter 36

Earthchild36

The Earthchild

(A Ranma 1/2/Iczer/Sailor Moon Crossover)

by Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi,  
Naoko Takeuchi, Toshihiro Hirano,  
&amp; Hitoshi Okuda, with ideas and suggestions by TH Tiger and Johannes Huber)

Chapter Thirty-Six.

Nami Shiina considered her hand carefully then selected her cards and laid them down upon the table.

"Straight flush," she said to her Virtual playmates, "King high, read them and weep."

She heard the modulated groaning from her two fellow poker players as they threw their own virtual hands down in disgust, leaving Nami to collect the Virtual pot, which was noticeably larger than what either of them had on their sides of the Virtual table.

"It's not fair!" Kiiro Ijima complained, "Three straight hands in a row! She's got to be cheating!"

"Unfortunately the system is cheat-proof, insofar as I've been able to determine," Kawai Kawaii responded, "And I doubt Nami is a good enough hacker to overmaster the Anti-fraud protocols that I've engineered into the matrix. This leaves only one possible answer...the computer loves her more than it does the both of us..."

"Excuses make for poor collateral, Ladies," Nami gloated in a sultry purr that suited her lascivious expression, "You now owe me the literal equivalent of the shirts off your back, and I aim to collect when our shift is finally over."

"You mean you're going to have the two of us running around stark naked?" Kiiro asked.

"And doing my errands like the good little house slaves that the both of you now are," Nami leered, "At least for the duration."

"Two weeks of slave duty," Kawaii said with a touch of regret, "You really are a ruthless poker player, my friend."

"Next thing you know you'll be wanting us to groom and manicure you," Kiiro complained, "Maybe even trim that painted yellow bush of yours when it grows back..."

"Oh no," Nami assured them as she made a show of shuffling the Virtual card deck, "That's for next round, and the one after that is where you both get down on your knees and give me your plump little tails for the plucking..."

"You know, there are some places where they would call this sexual harassment," Kawaii noted, then added with a lusty smile of her own, "Of course it would be remiss of us not to pay up in full what we owe you up to date..."

"Oh yea," Kiiro growled, "Payback is definitely coming-WHOAH! How up a minute, Partners...I'm getting a reading..."

"Same here," Nami's tone was suddenly all business, "An energy spike...like something big is entering subspace, and very close to my position."

"Mine too," Kawaii noted, "We had best triangulate the point of entry and relay back to headquarters as instructed. I believe Big Gold is finally making her move, partners..."

"Yeah, I copy that," Kiiro's eyes bulged out as she was the closest of the three of them to the opening gate, "I make a visual confirmation on that movement...and whatever the bitch is planning, it's going to be big this time...real big..."

"Hold your position and go to stealth mode," Nami instructed, "We don't want them to be making us out while we relay to the beacon our findings. And just in case, let's cut down the chatter. Even direct line-of-sight transmissions might be risky this close to the fleet the enemy is sending."

"That is not a fleet I am making out," Kawaii sounded unusually awed as she studied her own readings, "That is an armada...Geos, Voids, Venomoids, some larger Mecha...enough to lay siege to an entire world."

The three Iczelions fell silent as the larger shadow of an awesome Mecha fell across Kiiro's position, and suddenly she was wondering if the temporary shelter she had created was enough of a protection to avoid the notice of this giant, marveling that anything so big would be committed to battle on anything less than an all-out assault on the planet that had given her birth. She silently prayed to the Kami as she hoped that she and her beloved partners would live long enough for Nami to collect on her bet, because from the looks of things the Armageddon fleet was on the move, and they weren't holding anything back this time. She only hoped that their own side would have the means to resist such a horrifying invasion...

"Sir!" one of the monitors reported, "Iczelion Corps Unit Alpha is reporting in...contact movement with the enemy, they're relaying telemetry...and we're confirming the movement through subspace beacons. It's huge, Sir...the size of the enemy force...it's just impossible..."

"Steady there, Lieutenant," Cobalt turned to Sepia and said, "Looks like it's happening, and just the way the Commander predicted."

Sepia nodded and spoke directly over the Com-Net, "Central Control to Central Ops, enemy fleet sighted in subspace coordinates One-Nineteen-by-Five-forty-  
Seven-by-Grid Epsilon-Theta! The force is huge, beyond anything we've ever detected..."

At the center of Operations and Planning, Iczer-One looked up and said, "Acknowledged. Have our forces mobilized and ready for immediate launch...and Sub-Commander...I want it-as the Terrans say-five minutes ago."

"And so it begins," Iczer Two remarked grimly as she called up the holographic display of planet Earth as seen from an aerial vantage, "Big Gold is committing her forces for real this time. No more probing attacks, no more testing of our defenses..."

"This is really the big one this time," Troi said as she stared at their adopted homeworld and briefly contemplated what it would look like if an enemy force were to be unleashed on the lovely blue planet, "Guess I owe you one for this, Two. She's really gone and done it this time."

"You were right in anticipating her attack, Sister," Iczer One acknowledged, "It would see that everything that we have experienced to date has been merely for show to determine the relative strength and weaknesses of our resources..."

"There is no pleasure or pride in being able to think like the enemy," Iczer Two said grimly, "It is simply what I would have done if I were commanding Big Gold's position, relative to our own. Having the Iczelions posted as scouts was merely a matter of pinning down from what direction she might be sending her assault forces, and it seemed like a golden opportunity to turn the tables on her by finding out the point of their origin."

"And now that we know where that Bitch is hiding we can deal her some grief as payback for all the trouble she's caused us," Troi smacked a fist-to-palm and said grimly, "And after we get done kicking her new toys to hell and gone we can go in there and show that witch how to really mount an invasion."

"One thing at a time, Sisters," Iczer One urged with a not of caution, "We still do not know at what point the attack will be mounted and where we should position our people to meet them."

"At least this time we will have some advanced warning on that," Iczer Two replied, "But my guess is that they will ignore the Earth for the moment and aim for our greatest stronghold," she caused the hologram of Earth to pull back until the moon was included in the picture, at which point the tiny spot that was the C'thuwulf Worldship was denoted with an underlying circle...just seconds before a flash of light revealed the appearance of the enemy assault force.

"SUNUVA-They're after the Worldship!" Troi swore in dismay.

"Logical," Iczer One said grimly, "The Worldship is the center of our heritage, culture and resources, and if they should destroy that then we will be cut off from our main base of operations. There are also the stored genetic material of billions of C'thuwulf in there, and if she somehow got a hold of that..."

"She could clone herself a virtually limitless army from the raw material of our own people," Iczer Two concluded, "Monstrously logical...exactly what I would have expected from that Virus."

"Oneechan, we can't let her get away with this!" Troi declared, "Our people will be slaughtered-or worse! And we'll be hopelessly crippled if we lose the Worldship..."

"I know," Iczer One replied, her tone becoming hard with the burden of leadership plain in her expression, "Have all forces converge on this location here...we'll cut them off and eliminate the horde before it has a chance of breaching our defenses. Have the Iczelion Corps mobilized-all available units and reserves, we'll head the assault with our Iczer-Robos and push those monsters back beyond the fringe from whence they came..."

"You do that," Iczer Two replied, "I will not be going with you."

"Huh?" Troi blinked, "You backing down from a fight, Two? I never thought..."

"I know," Iczer Two replied, "And frequently I have despaired of it, but I love you anyway, little Sister, even when you annoy me. But this is not a question of backing down...if we commit all of our main forces to a single attack it will leave Gamora base defenseless, and I would not put it past Big Gold to overlook such a tempting target."

"You mean a second wave assault force," Iczer One frowned, "Very logical, if coldly brilliant. But if we divide our forces to meet both threats..."

"You will not have to," Iczer Two replied, "Commit the bulk of our forces to destroying the first group...take no prisoners and leave none of the enemy alive. I have already informed our allies among the Earth governments and Forces that they should prepare for the worst and mobilize their own defensive forces. This is all-out war, my sisters, the kind that we have dreaded all along, but is necessary to the continued survival of both the Human and C'thuwulf races. I will remain here to command our reserve forces, to meet any second assault if it should come, or else to reinforce your position should the anticipated second wave fail to materialize."

"Very well," Iczer One said grimly, "I leave it in your capable hands, Sister. I'll go join Nagisa in Alpha Unit...Troi, you find your partner and command Theta. Beta Unit...and Gamora base, are in your hands, Two...and safe journey."

"Safe journey to you, Sisters," Iczer Two half smiled as she watched both of her fellow Iczers teleport away, then she sighed as she leaned her hands against the railing, studying the growing size of the enemy fleet, which boasted some unusual combat Mecha whose purpose would doubtlessly be revealed in very short order.

"And so it begins," Iczer Two said grimly, "And so it will end...in fire. But I swear to you, my sisters, on my love for our people and upon Sayoko...that this will be the final battle."

And with that declaration solemnly averred she vanished from the Ops center, going to her own pre-arranged destination...

Sakura hardly blinked this time as she sensed Troi appearing in her room. Instead she just turned her head and said, "What took you?"

"Stopped for refreshments along the way, Beautiful," Troi glanced around at her partner's bedroom and then said, "Um...hate to be the type to teleport and run, but I kinda need you right now...we got another emergency, and it's big this time..."

"So what are we waiting for?" Sakura said as she got up from her futon and reached for her combat spatula, "Time's a-wasting."

"Right," Troi agreed, and the two of them vanished form the room, reappearing moments later as Troi took the command capsule of her Iczer Robo while Sakura found herself once again naked and breathing liquid in the comforting chest-pod with the usual array of tube connecting to her body.

"By the way, Sakura-chan," Troi said as she brought all systems on line and prepared for immediate bay-launch, "Did you work things out with your buddy Muku...?"

"I guess," Sakura said somewhat listlessly, "We...had a talk and came to a...resolution..."

"Oh," Troi said, "One of those. Well...I'd love to hear the details...in fact, if you let me into your mind I'm sure that would save time..."

"I just want you to know something," Sakura replied, "I really think I do understand, now, what you went through all those years ago when you had that breakup with Nagisa."

There was a slight pause before Troi murmured aloud, "That really must have been one hell of a talk you shared..."

"It was...educational," Sakura replied, "So...what are we waiting for? Let's go stomp on some bad guys."

"I hear you, Girlfriend," Troi acknowledged, "Let's go kick butt on some bad guys..."

Meanwhile in another Iczer Robo, Iczer One was taking the lead in organizing her forces, preparing for the critical launch of the major bulk of the C'thuwulf forces while Nagisa monitored less important civilian channels, then reported to her wife, "All sections report in at Yellow status, I-chan. The Civilian population is moving to the protective shelters, just like we drilled them. If the war should happen to come here we ought to be ready."

"Thank the Goddess for that," Iczer One replied, "For the sake of our people I sincerely hope that my sister is wrong, but her military logic is impeccable here, and if there is anything we can rely upon it is the certainly that Big Gold will be pulling out even wicked trick in the book to assure herself of victory."

"If that's the case, then are you sure that Two can handle this alone?" Nagisa asked, "Wouldn't it be better if we assign Rhea-chan to back her up in case there is trouble?"

"I've already seen to that, Nagisa-chan," Iczer One replied, "If the alarms should sound then we can count on our daughter to do her part to defend our people...but I'd rather keep her in reserve for when she's needed rather than deploy her prematurely."

"Prematurely?" Nagisa blinked, "You have got to be kidding me! I-chan, with all the alarms sounding throughout this entire complex..."

"I've left specific instructions that Rhea is not to be notified of the alert or even disturbed for the duration," Iczer One explained, "Only in the case of an actual attack will she be called to duty, but at the moment she has a very important assignment that she's carrying out, one that I would rather see carried to fruition without interruption."

Nagisa blinked as she heard this then frowned, "What kind of assignment?"

"An under-the-cover affair," Iczer One replied with a straight face, "Don't worry, it's nothing we wouldn't be doing if we were in her place."

"You say that and tell me not to worry?" Nagisa replied, but nonetheless she was also smiling, wishing her daughter well in a pursuit far more interesting than any battle...

A flash of light heralded Rhea's return to her bedroom, only this time she had Muku along for the ride, the both of them holding hands and leaning close together after a beautiful dance that had left the both of them feeling lighter than air without having to rely on ordinary levitation.

"We are here once more in my place," Rhea needlessly informed her partner, adding with slight emphasis, "...Where we won't be disturbed by overly-curious parents."

"Are you sure about that?" Muku asked, "Really sure? I mean...your parents are nice, but with our running track record..."

"Not to worry," Rhea smiled, "I set the privacy wards the moment I teleported in, and I've just received a mental download from my mother telling me that I am on reserve duty status pending my...resolution of certain matters."

"Resolution, huh?" Muku could not help smiling, "Is that what they're calling it these days, or is it a C'thuwulf thing?"

Rhea turned to her with an enchanting smile, "My people are indeed quite casual about such matters, but...we also practice a form of discretion. My mothers both prefer to be left to themselves when they are off-duty and quite frequently invoke the privilege of their offices to escape from the cycle of normal duties. With matters as tense as they have been of late, I believe that we are entitled for some time away from the front lines of battle."

"Yeah...I think so too," Muku said with a slight tremble in her voice showing that this statement was not as casual as she had intended to make it, "So...nobody's gonna go sounding any alarms or come in here asking nosy questions?"

"Not unless we are under an attack," Rhea replied, pausing before adding, "Muku-  
chan...I know that things have been rather...hurried of late...and you are right to complain that there hasn't been time for us to more...properly get to know each other...so if you would rather not do this at this time..."

Muku's hand on Rhea's cheek brought a halt to the latter's deferral as Muku said, "No...I want to do this...I want us to be closer...even closer than now. But...but I really don't know what I'm supposed to do at this point. I'm...I've never really...I...could you show me?"

Rhea's smile had all the warmth of the bond that was intensifying between them, "I would love to show you everything, Muku-chan. And it's very easy to learn...the most natural thing in the world...you will soon see that. Leave everything to me and I will show you how C'thuwulf partners express their love when we are together."

Linking hands together she moved in closer so that their lips could touch once again in a kiss, Rhea's arms moving around to embrace Muku as the latter returned the kiss with an ardor that quickly grew enflamed into a burning hunger. By mutual consent they moved closer to Rhea's bed, and when they fell down on top of it there was no more shyness or hesitation in expressing the motions that had awakened at last between two young girls whose attraction went deeper than any mere "casual" friendship...

"...So, let me see if we have this straight," Neo-Queen Serenity remarked, "You met this girl when she attacked you and kidnapped you into her giant robot, which is now in-part powered by your life energies, which also gives this girl access to your Senshi powers? Am I accurate so far?"

"Oh, pretty much, your Majesty," Nova answered for the two versions of Yui presently feeling tongue-tied and dry-mouthed over the matter of these revelations before her elders and parents, "I know it was wrong of me to do what I did and all that, but I was following orders at the time, and I needed a partner. An Iczer isn't really whole unless she has a partner to bond with, and we've Synchronized, which means that Yui-chan and me are definitely an item."

"An item," Lady Mars (1) remarked in a level-but-wary tone of voice.

"As in...the two of you are now bonded on a spiritual level?" Lady Mars (2) drawled with a deceptive calm in her voice that made both versions of Yui blanch while regarding their twin mothers. (Sweat bullets, sweat bullets, sweat bullets...)

"Soul-bonded?" their husband asked with a more openly troubled expression, "You mean you're linked on the psychic level?"

"Sure thing, Dad," Nova replied, "Yui's now a central part of me and I literally can't live without her. I know it may seem weird and kind of sudden, but it's happened and there's nothing to be done about it. We're together for richer or poorer, in sickness and all that, and when one of us gets hurt the other's gonna feel it. Yui's become my whole life now, and I wouldn't have it any other way, if you want the real truth of the matter."

"Forever?" Lady Mercury inquired.

"Afraid so," Nova shrugged, "Once Synchronization takes place there's no known way to reverse it or the break the link. I don't know how or why it happened, but I'm glad that it has since there's no one else quite like her..."

"Huh?" both of the Yuis said together.

"Ah...well...except maybe for the twin part," Nova amended, then brightened, "But that just means we can double our chances, double our fun! And if there's more Yui for the loving, that means there's more fun to be had all around, right?"

Lord Jove turned to his lady wife and said, "You know, you almost have to admire her enthusiasm."

"I haven't seen anybody that free-spirited since Usagi-chan was in high school," Lady Venus acknowledged.

Neo-Queen Serenity gave her friends and subject-Senshi a mildly withering look before turning back to Nova and saying, "So, effectively you two are the next best thing to being married...but what does Yui-chan have to say about this? Sailor Deimos? Sailor Phobos?"

"Ah...?" the two girls so named chorused together with mutually uncertain expressions, turning to her fellow junior Senshi, who were standing together as a group, content with letting her maintain the spotlight in the hope that their parents would soon forget the trifling mention of their sexual escapades with their C'thuwulf "associates..."

"Hey, how about asking how I feel about it!" Lady Mars (1) complained.

"Our daughters are seeing somebody who's even flakier than you!" Lady Mars (2) duly noted.

"I'm a little more concerned about this threat she supposedly represents," Lady Uranus ventured, "She says that she's changed side and is now fights with the Angels, but how do we know...Eh?" she turned as she sensed a change in her companion-wife's demeanor, "Neptune?"

"Aunt Michiru?" Princess Rini asked, breaking her own self-imposed silence.

"I..." the green-haired Senshi blinked her eyes then swayed on her feet a bit before clutching at her head and crying out, "I can feel it! The wrong! It's in the air! The seas are restless...the dark tide is coming!"

"Dark tide?" Lady Mercury inquired.

"This doesn't sound good," Sailor Io murmured to her sister, Sailor Europa, who silently nodded in total agreement.

"Mother?" Sailor Triton was asking as she saw Lady Neptune's expression.

"What's the matter?" Lady Uranus asked as she reached out to catch and support Lady Neptune, "What are you feeling...?"

"I feel it too," Lady Pluto spoke up, turning to scan the horizons, "A tide of black death sweeping out of the void...it's awful...so evil..."

Lady Saturn looked up at her own companion then turned her gaze towards the stars and suddenly her eyes took on a void-like cast that promised the death of galaxies as she said, "A dark tide indeed, sweeping out from the void and threatening a castle of light shimmering in the starry heavens. Life itself is under assault, and if it is not stopped, and soon, it could destroy the earth and all other planets with it..."

"I feel it too," Sailor Chiron noted, "A vast wave of darkness reaching out to engulf the light..."

"Hokey smokes!" Nova exclaimed with a gasp, "It's started!"

"What's started?" both Yuis asked together.

"Big Gold is making her move," Nova replied, "She's been gathering her forces for quite a while now, and I think I know what kind of stuff she's probably throwing at the C'thuwulf Worldship! We gotta put a stop to this or it could mean the end of everything..."

"Now if that doesn't ever sound like a familiar declaration..."

"Luna?" Neo-Queen Serenity turned to see a pair of cats come trotting into the throne chamber, "Where were you?"

"Out doing research," the black cat with the moon-shaped crescent on her forehead replied, "We've been monitoring your conversations and Artemis here said that he believed we could find some useful references in the great Crystal library concerning these aliens whom you've encountered."

"And any luck?" Lady Mercury asked.

"As a matter of fact, yes," the white-furred Artemis replied, "Although there's no direct reference to the name C'thuwulf in the archives, there are many passing references to 'Our Sisters of the Stars" who live in a space-born culture and whose connections to the ancient Moon Kingdom is explicitly stated. There's even some hints that the people of the Moon Kingdom themselves might have been a long-forgotten colony of an other-worldly culture, in which case we may be more closely related than anyone so far seems to have imagined."

"In a way it makes sense, really," Luna noted, "our technology is based upon the moon crystals that were found here long by our ancestors ago while these C'thuwulf appear to use some sort of organic-based technology, one so sophisticated that it can even be used to create a life-form as sophisticated as this Nova person whom you've been talking to for the past few hours...and to her credit I must say that she does not come across as sounding like the looniest person whom it has ever been our dubious fortune to encounter."

"Hey, I'm easy," Nova assured them, pointing skyward, "It's those guys you need to worry about, and some of them are way lots more nasty than I would ever want to be...at least since I decided I like you humans after all on account of Yui-  
chan..."

"That may be so," Neo-Queen Serenity replied, "But just how great of a threat do they pose to life on the planet Earth?"

"Are you kidding?" Nova said, "Just the Venomoids alone could wipe out every living thing on your planet! Look...I gotta go, they're gonna need all the help they can get out there, and my Moms' forces'll be stretched pretty thin without me. Yui-chan, will you fight beside me?"

"Eh?" the two Yuis seemed surprised at the invitation.

"Ah...on second thought," Nova amended, "I don't want you to get anywhere near those Venomoid guys. I'm immune to their spores, you're not, and if they touch you they can infect you with their...well, never mind...just so you know I'm doing this for you, Yui-chan!"

And with that she pixilated and vanished in a golden halo, leaving both Yuis to blink at the space where she had been standing.

"What was that all about?" Lady Mars (1) inquired.

"Is she going off to fight a war all by herself?" Lady Mars (2) asked of her twin.

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Neo-Queen Serenity frowned, "I want to know more about this enemy and what forces they're using to attack the Earth, and I want to know it now, people. Can anyone give us a sense of what we're..."

"This Unit may comply."

"What the?" Lord Jove asked as yet another new presence made itself known in the crystal throne room.

"What is that?" Lady Venus seconded.

"Apologies," said the hovering robotic form whose orange exterior seemed to gleam awkwardly off of the garishly colored costumes of the Senshi, "This Unit-  
designate 071 is here to collect this unit's partner. This Unit was unable to cross the barrier surrounding this chamber until Unit designate Iczer Six, code named Nova, effected subspace transfer."

"Hah?" Sailor Deimos asked of the approaching robot.

"Who the heck are you?" Sailor Phobos wondered.

"This Unit is an Iczelion Unit assigned to subject designate Hibiki Yui," the robot replied, "Subjects conform to Bioscan readings of assigned unit partner. This explains the unusual pattern configuration detected in Unit Hibiki when this one was created to serve her. This unit has unique properties that make this unit ably suitable for protection of Subject Yui. This Unit will now execute its primary defensive program to serve Units Hibiki upon voice activation command, 'Charge Up.'"

"Charge up?" Sailor Deimos asked.

"What are you talking about any...?" Sailor Phobos continued when the orange robot suddenly flew apart, its various components shimmering as they detached from identical copies of one another, and before anyone could stop them these pieces went flying towards both versions of Yui.

"It's after my daughter!" Lady Mars (1) cried, pointing her finger.

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Lady Mars (2) declared as she, too, pointed at the flying plates of metal that whirled around and affixed themselves to both Sailors Deimos and Phobos.

"WAIT!" Sailor Mercury cried hastily as she urged her friends to withhold hasty action, "I don't think it's trying to harm her!"

Sure enough the two versions of Yui momentarily went naked as their Senshi costumes dissolved from their bodies, and then the armored plates affixed themselves to different portions of her skin, only a moment later revealing themselves to be identical versions of the same ultra-tech looking armor, differing only in coloration as one was Red with gold trim and the other was Gold with Red trim. Both Yuis stared down at themselves then exchanged looks with one another with identical incredulous expressions.

"Great Mother of the Milky Way," Lady Uranus murmured.

"What in the world is that...thing?" even Lady Pluto seemed amazed at the sight of the two armored Yuis.

"Yui-chan?" Ryoga asked of his twin daughters.

"I...I'm all right, Dad," one Yui said with an amazed expression.

"The armor...it's speaking to me," the other Yui said with a wondering expression, "It's telling me what it is...what it can do...it's from the C'thuwulf, and it was created to serve me..."

"Serve you?" Lady Mars (2) asked.

"What, like that Nova?" Lady Mars (1) chorused.

"It's Iczelion armor," Rini spoke up once again, "Like my friend Nami wears...it makes you almost as powerful as an Iczer..."

"Only that's for normal humans," Sailor Hermes noted, "What effect will it have on a Senshi?"

"WHOOOP!" both Yuis cried in chorus as they started to take off into the air, only to vanish in tandem.

"YUI-CHAN!" both versions of Lady Mars-plus their husband-cried out together.

"This gets stranger by the minute," Neo-Queen Serenity remarked before turning to Luna and Artemis, "Continue your researches, I want to know everything that you can find out about these C'thuwulf, and I want it yesterday. Mars, Neptune, Pluto, Saturn...some intelligence gathering, please? Tell us exactly where this enemy is and what they are doing at this moment, then Mercury, help them devise a strategy to counter these bad guys."

"Then we're going to war?" Lord Jove inquired.

"You got it," Serenity replied, "I'm contacting Mamoru-chan and telling him to drop whatever he's doing. We'll need King Endymion to fight this enemy at our full power, and since one of our own has been drafted into the battle, the clock is ticking people, so let's get cracking!"

"Hai!" all of her subjects chorused together, both young and old Senshi, the united powers of the Planets and their Moons being marshaled for battle against an enemy as deadly as any Youma...

"Something wrong, Ranchan?" Ukyo asked of her husband, "You look like you've seen a Cat or something."

"Very funny," Ranma replied, glancing around, "I can't really put my finger on it, but I've been having that really weird feeling...you know, the one where something really bad's about to happen?"

"Oh," his wife looked up from cleaning her grill, "One of those feelings, huh? Guess that means we oughta be having company soon." And, saying this, she set aside her cleaning tools and reached up to remove her combat spatula from its wall mounting.

"Don't know if that's gonna cut it this time, Ucchan," Ranma said as he slyly regarded his wife.

"Maybe not, Sugar," she responded as she slung her spatula over her shoulder and into its harness, "But I'll feel a lot better about having it with me."

The bell at the front door rang as it slid open, and Ranma started to turn around to say, "Sorry, we're close at the...Oh! It's you, Granny...I didn't see...huh?"

Ukyo followed her husband's line of sight and did a double-  
take...literally...because what she saw following the ancient Matriarch, Cologne, was nothing less than two near-identical versions of Tenma, only one of whom was wearing his school clothes.

Yuki Taro arrived last and paused as she removed her footwear and bowed to the Saotomes, saying in a polite tone of voice, "Honored parents of my friend, Tenma, would it be permissible for me to join with you in a family gathering?"

"Huh?" Ranma absently responded, "Oh...sure...come in...ah...excuse me, but...aren't you...?"

"Taro Yuki," she replied brightly, "Youngest daughter of a former sparring partner of yours, who might be well annoyed with me for visiting with you, but...I would rather be here with Ten-chan while you discuss with Baba Cologne about his future."

"Say what?" Ranma blinked then turned a questioning look towards Cologne and the two Tenmas.

"She's okay, Pop," one of the Tenmas replied, "You can trust her-ow! What did you do that for?"

"I thought I told you not to call him that," the other Tenma glared, "He ain't your Pop, he's my Pop, you got it?"

"Hey, he's as close to a Pop as I've ever had," the other Tenma glared, "You wanna make something of it?"

"Both of you desist in this unseemly conduct," Cologne said sternly, then smiled as she saw her order was obeyed by both glowering Tenmas, so she turned back to the Saotomes and said, "There have been some unusual happenings in the neighborhood of late, and I thought, perhaps, you should be informed of at least a few of the more significant events. As you may have noticed you presently have one son more than you started out with at the beginning of the week..."

"You might say that, Sugar," Ukyo replied with a patented "This Better Be Good" expression.

"The reason for this is simple," Cologne replied, "An enemy has sought to infiltrate an imposter into your household for the purpose of gaining intelligence...however...the chosen spy has decided to turn against his own creators, and so we have a defector seeking asylum in our midst, one who professes sincere remorse for his actions and wishes to be judged on his own merits rather than on the crimes of his creators."

"Ah...run that by me again?" Ranma asked.

"Are you saying one of these...isn't our Tenma?" Ukyo marveled.

One Tenma glared at the other, who then sighed, lowered his head and said, "It's me, Mom...I'm the imposter. I replaced your son by duplicating him down to the cellular level, but I'm really a Bioroid, a kind of android, like an Iczer..."

"Like Two and Troi?" Ranma replied, then when he saw the young man nod his head he said, "So you took my kid's place and you've been living in our house and everything. So...where have you been the whole time, Son?"

"Ah...well...I met a friend, Pop," the real Tenma replied somewhat uneasily, "And she's been helping me out, but now I'm back and I want my old life back...only this imposter here's been doing stuff while pretending to be me, and we gotta figure out what to do about him and-OW!" he whirled around, "Would you stop doing that?"

"Tell your father the rest of the story, Saotome," Yuki glared before making a point of taking the other Tenma by the arm and saying, "Ten-chan wants to make a new start, and since he's decided to fight for us and tell us what he can about the enemy, I say he deserves a chance in spite of what else has happened."

Ranma blinked, saw the other Tenma looking both confused and uncomfortable, then looked down at his real son and said, "You got a friend like that you ain't been bringing around, Kid?"

"Gimme a break, Pop!" Tenma said, "She's just got some weird kind of connection with him is all. My friend's not like that, she's...nice..."

"Nice," Ukyo repeated before glancing up at Ranma, "No question about it, Sugar, you're definitely the father."

"Yeah...and the other one's a pretty good match too," Ranma turned back to the near-identical Tenmas, "Son...uh...both of you...this is gonna take a bit of time for us to sort through, know what I mean? Your mother and me...well...we know Bioroids are just like regular people, but I think we'd better hear the whole story from the beginning, okay?"

"Sure Pop," one Tenma said, echoed by the other who also said, "Sure Pop, I'll tell it right from the beginning."

"This is gonna take a while," Ukyo turned to her husband and said, "I hate it when you get those feelings, Sugar. You don't kid around when you talk about weird stuff happening."

"Tell me about it," Ranma agreed, then he frowned as he saw the Tenma being held by Yuki glance up sharply at the ceiling, "Something wrong, Kid?"

"Pop..." that Tenma swallowed, "I don't know how to tell you this...but...they're coming..."

"They're coming," Atros said aloud as she stood atop a tall pole and scanned the air above her head, "I can feel them...their evil. It's time at last to atone for my sins...I only hope that I have the strength to do as you once did, my mother."

She held a fist over her chest as she spoke these words at the left of a soft murmur, almost a prayer in the name of the C'thuwulf Goddess in whom she did not even fully believe, as much a reflex as the result of absorbing memories from her brief contact with Troi, her predecessor and primary parent. She could sense the C'thuwulf rallying their forces to meet the wave of the enemy armada as it loomed large near to the C'thuwulf Worldship, but rather than teleport to join her mother and the Iczelion Corps she remained where she was, resolved to stand firm and face the challenge of the second wave, which she felt certain was to put in its own appearance.

Serving as a one-woman reinforcement squad made logical sense to her given that a single Iczer was as good as an armada, but somehow she doubted that Big Gold would pull any punches this time, this being more of a kind of "all-or-Nothing" battle. Scorched Earth was the policy of her former Master, and-given her newfound appreciation of the planet Earth and its strange inhabitants-Atros felt sickened to think of the devastation that was surely to follow. It was all that she could do to try and put a check to the Venomoid rampages in order to atone for her own misguided part in putting the Earth in such perilous danger.

The likely event of her death was certainly a prospect that could not be avoided, but Atros had been dead before, and she much preferred that state to the thought of the walking nightmare she had become when Big Gold had revived her. Being used as a discardable tool by that monster she once foolishly called her "Grandmother" was enough to make her violently ill, and Atros wanted nothing so much as to reap bloody vengeance upon Big Gold and her other so-called mother, Neos Gold, for daring to treat her as nothing more than a wind-up doll in their insane dreams of conquest. Being at last freed from the Virus that was Gold's presence, she could now well appreciate the irony of her position, but without much actual amusement. She was a weapon of war, nothing more or less than that, and if this was to be her final stand then she would go down fighting defending the world that she had come so close to destroying.

She could still remember her previous life vividly from the moment of her creation, when Neos Gold used the stolen Iczerio energy to pattern-clone her from the matrix formed by Troi and Nagisa. For a time she had only believed herself a tool of war and nothing else...but somehow Nagisa had changed her mind on that, had awakened Atros to the truth of her own creation. Atros had tried to carry out the will of Neos Gold, had sought to ignore the call of her own conscience when it prevented her from killing the one she had thought her hated rival...but when Nagisa touched her shoulder...that had changed everything! Being in contact with both Troi and Nagisa at one time had alerted her to the truth of her own nature...for it was in the genetic makeup of the two that Atros had been realized as a single creation. She was not the product of Neos Gold at all...Neos Gold was not her mother...she was a product of the Iczerio, and her true mothers were none other than Iczer Three and Nagisa!

From that moment onward Atros had hated Neos Gold with an unreasoning passion that had eventually led to her death at the hands of her real enemy. Atros had slept the sleep of death, having been returned to the Iczerio pattern from whence she had been created, but when she awoke again after many years had passed she was once again employed as a weapon. Her real personality had been suppressed in favor of Gold's own personality profile. Cleared of that disgusting Virus she was awakened to her memories of old, and with it came the pain and confusion of knowing that she had been used and abandoned. Her mission would have spelled death to everyone, including herself, if not for the valiant efforts of her mother and...her mother's human partner.

She sighed as she thought about this. Other people had sacrificed so much for her benefit, and yet was she truly worth it? Could she justify their losses with her newfound freedom? The word Freedom was still so tentative for her, so strange and so confusing, that she could not truly decide if it were a good, bad or only necessary thing. She still had no idea just who and what she was without the Gold Virus within her. She was too much of a tabula rasa, a blank slate upon which to write with far too many gaps in her personality and nature for Atros to feel totally like a whole and fully integrated person.

Personality defects, however, did not begin to account for the slight sense of alienation that she was presently feeling between herself and the Iczer upon whose matrix she had been partially patterned. It was not that she found Troi irritating so much as that she was confident of the fact that she did not want to copy her mother or become an extension of her, let alone to be anything like her.

After all Troi was frivolous, irreverent, self-absorbed and had truly appalling personal standards and habits. She could sleep with a girl barely of legal age for such behavior and feel relatively little guilt or obligation. Even as a child she would rather play than do serious work, and her whole attitude to life was nothing less than to treat it like a game. She was irresponsible and disrespectful to authority, could engage in willful acts of petty spite and vandalism under the guise of what humans called "practical jokes," a prankster who delighted in bringing low the pompous and the mighty but not at all above taking cheap shots at those far less deserving.

Given their relative personality differences it was unlikely that Atros would have considered Troi a friend beyond mere dreams of her as a playmate, and it was unlikely that they would ever really see eye-to-eye as a proper mother-and-  
daughter should...but Atros respected her mother as a warrior and would fight well to make her proud of her only daughter. They might not always be the perfect model of mother and daughter relations but they were both Iczers, sworn to defend and protect their chosen people...and besides, they also shared one other thing in common.

Nagisa.

Atros closed her eyes and conjured up the face and form of her other biological parent, then opened them again and grimly nodded. Nagisa embodied the best of what it meant to be human, and as such she and the people of Earth were worth her protection. Atros had known that fifteen years ago when she had given her life to protect Nagisa, and she would do it again without hesitation...not that her life amounted to much at the present, being as yet unwritten with many blank chapters where a normal person would have a childhood, to say nothing of the last fifteen years of her non-existence...

"Hey Sis, you busy at the moment?"

Atros blinked then looked up at the hovering Nova, the cherry-haired former Iczer who also shared the distinction of claiming Nagisa for one of her parents.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Same thing as you," Nova replied, "I figured Big Gold was gonna throw a party, I figured I'd be there to crash it."

"You're not going to fight for her side?" Atros asked in a deceptively casually tone, not truly trusting this particular member of the Iczer family.

"Hey, that hurts!" Nova replied, "You know I won't do that, not when it means Yui-chan winds up a casualty, not to mention the rest of the planet. Hell, how am I supposed to know you won't revert back to being her footsoldier? After all, you're the one who almost blew up the planet."

"A fair point," Atros replied, "So what purpose do you have for coming to me...Sister?"

"I dunno...just wondered if maybe you'd like some company or something," Nova shrugged, "After all we're gonna be making a heroic stand against impossible odds and all that, so...you wanna hang out until the next wave happens?"

Atros considered the point then said, "What about your partner?"

"Left her home," Nova replied, "Don't wanna have her catching no alien bugs or nothing. How about yours?"

"Another fair point," Atros found herself almost smiling, "He is an innocent...I would not wish to involve him..."

"GANGWAY-COMING THROUGH!" a distinctly male voice called out as an armored form came whizzing past both Iczers, kicking up their hair in his wake as the two of them tracked the erratic flying pattern of the Iczelion missile.

"Offhand I'd say he's just got himself involved," Nova noted dryly, "Think maybe his Iczelion could have given him some flying lessons?"

"HELP!" came the Doppler-shifted voice of Ken Tofu as he fought for control over his flight trajectory, "SOMEBODY STOP THIS CRAZY THING...!"

"Ken-san!" Atros cried and took off like a shot after the vanishing form of the Blue Iczelion.

"Whoah," Nova grinned, "Look at her go! That must be Luuuve!" she glanced up at the sky and turned her attention to where the pale moon hung in the still-sunlit sky and said, "Just you wait, Yui-chan...I'll prove I'm worthy of loving you, just you wait. Be safe, my love, and leave the fighting to your Iczer..."

With that she took off, heading into the sky to prepare herself for the onslaught...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/C'thuwulf Armageddon: shadowmane

The First Wave of Big Gold's diabolical plan manifests itself as Iczer One and Troi lead their forces out to meet them. Meanwhile Rhea and Muku enjoy the solace of an hour together while Atros and Nova prepare to mount their own defensive front, and a secret plan for retribution is revealed as Iczer Two plays a desperate gambit. Be with us next time for: "Revelations," or, "It's the End of the World and I Feel Just Fine!" Be there!

X -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	37. Chapter 37

Eartchild37

The Earthchild

(An Iczer/Ranma/Sailor Moon Crossover)

By Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi,  
Naoko Takeuchi, Toshihiro Hirano,  
&amp; Hitoshi Okuda, with ideas and suggestions by TH Tiger and Johannes Huber)

Chapter Thirty-Seven.

HENTAI ALERT-LEMON MERINGUE SENES AHEAD!  
CONTAINS MATERIAL OF AN ADULT NATURE WHERE THINGS YOU ONLY IMAGINE HAPPENING TO XENA AND GABRIELE ARE ACTED OUT BY CONSENTING FICTIONAL TEENAGED CHARACTERS WHO-  
BECAUSE THEY ARE FICTIONAL-CAN DO WHATEVER THEY LIKE, SO THERE! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

(No Iczers were harmed in the making of this Fanfic.)

Sir Violet, "Mother of Us All" and supreme spiritual leader of the C'thuwulf, looked on with dismay as a growing cloud of enemy constructs manifested in the LaGrange region of space presently occupied by the C'thuwulf Worldship. Nor was she alone in expressing her dismay as command crew went to full alert status, mobilizing all hands and preparing for a major battle.

"All duty stations reporting in," a senior Defense Technician reported, "Defensive batteries armed and ready, shields at full capacity and holding, Holy Mother."

"Look at the size of that force," another technician breathed in dismay, "How in the name of the Cosmos can Gold mount so many Geos, Voids and Venomoids? They must number in the hundreds of thousands!"

"Some of the devices they've brought with them cannot be identified by either peripheral analysis or by reference to archives," a third technician reported, "Suggest that this is not a probing feint, these motherless scum mean serious business this time..."

"Big Gold must have plundered the resources of an entire world to create such horrors," a Senior Lieutenant on duty grimly noted, "She definitely means to take us over and add us to the list of that monster's diabolical conquests..."

"Belay that chatter," Commander Sapphire sternly ordered her people, turning to the communications officer and saying, "Lieutenant Tapura, do we have a link to the Protector and her forces?"

"Affirmative, Sir," Sapphire reported, "Units Alpha and Delta are en route to our position, estimated arrival in five standard Terran minutes."

"Good," Sapphire nodded with a sober expression, her crimson eyes sweeping the displays as she silently assessed the odds arrayed against them then reported, "Contact Moonbase Alpha and inform them that we will need fire support from all Lunar positions. We have to hold the line here, people, and keep those buggers out until the Protector can arrive with our Iczelion forces. Have teams mobilized to fire control and in the Mother's name, replace any unit that begins to show weakness. Our shields must hold until our relief can arrive."

"Already done, Sir," Tapura reassured her commander, "All defensive systems are online and reporting at maximum firepower. Ready to repel attack upon your orders."

"Hold and wait until the enemy is in position, then let them have it," Sapphire grit her teeth as she said, "Both barrels, just as the Terrans would phrase it."

"Gotta love those Terrans," Lieutenant Coffee murmured in mock bravado, "They've got a saying for almost every occasion."

"I just love them when they're not saying anything at all," Ensign Cream playfully jibed with her sister, "Like when they're on their backs and pleading to cum..."

There was brief laughter all around that helped relieve much of the tension that everyone was feeling, but Sir Violet knew that humor alone would not protect them from the horrors that were about to be unleashed...and as someone who had once personally lived with that horror she felt her stomach lurch in dread of such a thing happening to her people again. In such a case death would be a mercy, and she was prepared to order the self-destruction of the Worldship and her surviving people if it meant preventing a recurrence of her former nightmare; hopefully such an event would not prove necessary this time...but only if the Protector and their people could stave off the assault, and with odds such as they were facing she could only stand silently at her post in silent vigil, praying to the Mother that this would not be the death knell of the C'thuwulf, that by some miracle their people would survive and be allowed to continue to prosper...

Meanwhile Iczer One was making her own grim assessments then reporting to her sister, "Enemy forces are nearly a million strong...mostly Venomoids but with a quarter of their forces comprised of Voids and Geos. The rest are unidentified but doubtlessly must be counted as yet more unpleasant surprises that Gold has cooked up for us in her bioweapons workshops."

"And at the present we have two Iczer Robos and almost a hundred of the Iczelion corps on our side," Nagisa duly related, "Which roughly divides up as nine-  
thousand-to-one in their favor..."

"So?" Troi relayed from her Iczer Robo, "That means just nine thousand a piece for each of us, a piece of cake, we've got them outnumbered."

"Just how serious a threat are these Voids, Venomoids and Geos anyway?" Sakura spoke up, showing only a trace of the nervousness and uncertainly that she felt about this battle, and rather much in awe at the discovery that they were in space with the moon looming so close nearby that it almost looked like you could reach out and touch it...

"Well, the Venomoids are pretty damned destructive, being an alien parasitic life form that likes to plant their host spores in innocent people, turning them into more monsters like themselves," Troi explained, "But they're nothing compared to the destructive capabilities of a Void...sort of a more primitive version of us, meaning a Bioroid that's purely designed as a weapon of destruction. A Geo is a modified Void, and they range in form and function from the mostly harmless to the really gawd-awful. They're the shock troops and foot soldiers of Gold's legions, and a single one of those buggers can be enormously destructive depending on its genetic design, form and function."

"The basic rule of thumb in all cases is that you don't let them get too near you, Sakura-san," Iczer One related, "Destroying them on sight is the safest option unless they turn out to be specially designed to resist easy termination."

"At one time in their history the C'thuwulf relied upon Voids and Geos to do many base level functions in their society, Sakura-san," Nagisa revealed, "But they were eventually replaced in favor of the Iczers."

"Right," Troi said, "We got those rejects down cold when it comes to both the hardware and raw power department..."

"More than that," Iczer One amended, "When I was created to be the prototype of all the Iczers it was decided that the ultimate in living machines should be tempered by the humanity of a partner whose is both my source of Bio-energy and the anchoring reminder of what I am fighting for, which is the life of the C'thuwulf people."

"I think I see," Sakura replied, "Nagisa-san is the glue that holds you closer to Humanity so you don't let the power you command go to your head...so...how did you cope before you linked with me, Troi?"

"The Goddess only knows," Troi replied, "Somehow there's always been someone who could lend me a little power to go on, but before you there was only Nagisa who gave me what you've got in abundance, Sakura-chan, and with you onboard I feel like I could take on the whole evil Armada by my lonesome."

"That should not be necessary," Iczer One smiled fondly, "We have sufficient force on hand to meet this particular challenge."

"And Troi-chan," Nagisa tentatively chimed in, "For what it's worth...you were a great partner to have back then. I just wanted you to know that."

There was a slight hesitation before Troi responded, "Thanks...Nagisa-chan. It helps."

"Better get our minds off of personal concerns here," Iczer One duly noted, "Enemy fleet closing fast. All units hold formation and be prepared for anything..."

All at once a massive flash of light caught them all by surprise, followed a moment later by an incredible shockwave that struck their shielding and sent several Iczelions out of formation.

"WHAT THE FRAK WAS THAT?" Troi shouted into the ether as she fought for control over her Iczer Robo.

"Some kind of explosion," Sakura responded, "But what...?"

"Shields holding!" Iczer One reported, "But the shockwave was a massive pulse weapon of some sort...it's scrambled dour sensors, leaving us blind on all but short-range detectors..."

All at once the space around them tinted to a distinctive sepia-like color, which even Sakura by now recognized was a disturbing development long before Troi cried out, "FREL! WE'RE CAUGHT IN A SUBSPACE FIELD! SUNOVABITCH! THEY GOT US TRAPPED IN SUBPSACE!"

"Can we break loose?" Nagisa asked.

"No good," Iczer One said grimly, "No doubt some of those devices they were towing into the field were designed to generate a massive containment field...one large enough to trap our entire Iczelion force, to say nothing of our Iczer-Robos!"

"We've been suckered into an ambush!" Troi declared, "And we fell for it like amateurs..."

"But what about the enemy?" Sakura asked.

"Don't look now, but here they come," Nagisa pointed out in a no-nonsense tone that showed just the faintest edge of fatalistic determination.

"All units-brace for attack!" Iczer One cried out in the hopes that the Iczelion force could hear her orders over the static caused by the subspace explosion, and seconds later their people opened up with live fire as the enemy horde descended upon them from all directions...

Neos Gold smiled in triumph, having successfully carried out the instructions of Big Gold to the letter. In a gleeful voice she declared, "They're trapped and as good as finished! Iczer One and Troi will never escape from that containment field! Destroy them and all who follow the ways of the Iczers! The rest of you, follow me! We go to conquer the Worldship!"

On board in the command chamber, Sir Violent looked on with dismay as the field was literally swept clean of their own forces, leaving nothing but Voids, Geos and Venomoids to fill the sky around the Worldship.

"Holy Mother of us all!" Sapphire breathed at the realization that they were now without the main force of their defenders, then she snapped out of her daze and cried, "All units mobilize for defense!"

"Sir...the explosion has knocked down some of our field generators," a technician reported, "Shields overall are reduced by twenty-three percent of full strength!"

"They won't hold if the enemy presses us hard," another technician reported, "We could have breaches all along our periphery...defensive systems are down by fifteen percept of optimal..."

"So," Sir Violet murmured faintly to herself, "It is a good day to die after all..."

"Mother of us all?" lieutenant Coffee asked.

"Nothing," Sir Violet replied, silently determined not to allow the enemy to gain a foothold on the mothership. If matters proved as hopeless as she now feared they might be...then death would be the only option. She was prepared to make that sacrifice to prevent her people from becoming slaves of Big Gold once again, to spare them the ravages of what the Venomoid spores would do to their souls and bodies, and if their entire race should perish as a consequence, then so be it. They would become extinct as C'thuwulf, proud and independent...and the only regret that she would have was that the Earth itself could not be spared a similar fate. The blue planet that her people now called home would be relatively defenseless to the onslaught of the Venomoid scourge, which meant that Big Gold would win after all, despite the gallant bravery of the human race and their many defenders...

"THEY WHAT?" Sub-Commander Sepia was already up and out of her chair as she stared in dismay at the tactical display of what had just happened.

"It's like I just told you, Sir," Lieutenant Honey explained as she worked the controls of her station, "The enemy assault was designed as a feint to lure our forces into the containment zone, at which point a subspace bomb was detonated to disrupt communications, sensor readings and various other sub-systems. Then the other devices were brought into play to create a subspace field that removed our Iczelions and Robos from the battlefield, shuttling them off to a pocket dimension where they are effectively trapped and under assault by a separate Void army."

"How could something like this happen?" Cobalt swore.

"It happened because we obviously underestimated Big Gold, Mother," Iczer Two announced as she teleported into the command central.

"Two, thank the Mother!" Sepia breathed, "You've got to take Beta Unit out there to try and knock out those generators..."

"No good," Iczer Two shook her head, "I would never get near enough with Sepia to disable those field generators. I'm afraid my sisters will have to find a way on their own, but I'm going to make sure that their efforts are not wasted."

"What do you mean?" Cobalt blinked as she turned to regard her biological daughter.

"I can't explain right now," Iczer Two replied, "But this is the opportunity that I have been waiting for. You must remain here to defend this base from attack, Mother, while I take Sepia and go to deal a fatal blow to the enemy...once and forever."

"What are you talking about, Two?" Sepia asked, "Just what are you planning?"

"It...is better if I do not tell you," Iczer Two said with sincere regret, turning from her second-in-command to Cobalt and saying, "I am counting on you to hold the line here, Mother. I know you will prevail against the enemy...just as I must do what I must do to insure the continued survival of our people. Know that I am proud to have been born from your matrix, and I will make you proud of me this day."

With that she teleported from the command center, leaving the two partners to stare at the space where she had been standing until Sepia managed to ask, "Why is it I get the feeling that she's about to do something enormously reckless and possibly quite stupid?"

"She did remind me rather much of Troi just now, yes," Cobalt replied before turning back to stare at the display screens, "I just hope whatever she's doing will be enough to win the day. I just...wish I could shake the feeling that she came here to say goodbye to me..."

"Commander!" another technician reported, "We have energy spikes all over the board! Subspace gates are opening up at a dozen different points all across the planet...it's a Venomoid signature, and they've got more Voids with them!"

"What, more of them?" Sepia blanched.

"Of course," Cobalt said fatalistically, "This day is just getting better by the minute..."

Colonel Sharon Rogers stared at the planetary wall-display and saw the thing that she and her counterparts had dreaded all along. Threshold Gates were opening up in a dozen hot-spots the whole world over, far too many to be contained by even the combined resources of S.H.I.E.L.D. or even S.H.A.D.O. There were reports coming in from all over of monsters pouring out from those gates, and with only a limited number of allies to call upon to stand against this invading horde of Biosculpted creatures.

"Colonel!" a lieutenant called out, "Contact points in a dozen major cities, including New York..."

"Of course," Sharon said grimly, "They always come to either Tokyo, London, Metropolis or New York...I just hope Steve and his team can handle this crisis, because it looks like our resources will be stretched to the max. Get me Straker, and don't hesitate to pull rank, just get me an open channel to Stormwatch, the MIB and JLW Central..."

"Colonel," another technician reported, "Your husband's calling in on line two."

"What, now?" Sharon winced, then steeled herself and said, "Put it on the main com."

"Yes Ma'am," the technician said, then called into her throat-mike, "Go ahead, Captain."

"Sharon...we have a situation here..."

"Yes, Steve, I know all about it," Sharon said patiently.

"Well, you may not know this...the enemy is infecting people with spores and turning them into monsters. My people are holding up so far, but we're taking hits from some pretty heavy hitters...nothing we can't handle so far but..."

There was a loud crack and the sound of static on the line, and for a moment Sharon felt a totally non-professional lurch as her heart tried to pry its way into her mouth, but she managed to control her impulse and choke down a scream into a deceptively mild, "Steve? Steve...are you still there?"

"...ILL here," her husband's voice came back online a few overly-tense seconds later, "Thor just got a little carried away with that hammer of his...it throws a pretty mean thunderbolt when you come right down to it..."

"Well...don't do that to me again, Mister, or I'll have you court-martialed," Sharon quipped to cover up for the screaming jag she had earlier suppressed, "And try not to inhale any of those alien spores, do you hear me?"

"Yes Ma'am," he replied with tongue-in-cheek sarcasm, "Should I pick up a quart of milk and a loaf of bread while I'm at it?"

Sharon was mighty glad that there were no heavy objects to throw at her distant husband as she said, "Coordinate with Doctor Richards...see if he has any idea on how to cure people of these Venomoid spores, he's been working on a project with Doctor Banner all week, it's about time we see some results..."

"Colonel," Major Samuel (Snap) Wilson II sharply called out, "I think you'd better see this...we've got trouble dead ahead at two O'clock sharp."

"What?" Sharon turned to see the tactical display of the holographic image of the Shield Helicarrier being menaced by a surging portal that opened out slightly ahead of their position, to which she quipped, "Ohshit..."

"Trouble honey?" her husband asked with a slightly disapproving tone in his voice.

"I mean...Oh nuts..." she hastily amended, resenting the fact that she often had to watch her language around her husband, but...then again, they were-quite literally-from different eras...

"That doesn't sound the same as the guy I last heard quote those words," Steve replied, "I take it you've got a problem on your hands."

"If you call having a Threshold Gate pop up and spill out another wave of enemy forces a problem," Sharon noted rather dryly.

"Look, why don't I call you back when things are a bit less hectic," her husband urged, "I think Tigra and the Widow could use some help right about now, and it sounds like you've got your own hands full..."

"Right," she duly noted, "See you around dinner...I hope."

"We're deploying forces to repel the assault, Colonel," Major Wilson reported, having taken the moment to relay the appropriate orders to various shield divisions, "But do you think we stand a chance against a force nearly as powerful as the C'thuwulf?"

"God only knows," Sharon replied, "I just hope the cavalry gets here soon...the warranty isn't paid off on this Helicarrier, and we're still making payments for the last one..."

She silently hoped that their defensive systems would prove to be enough, but failing that she silently prayed that there was someone strong enough to save the day here, assuming that any such person was currently in residence on the planet, or that they were not doing anything more important at the moment...

Rhea moved in slowly but relentlessly, her hands undressing Muku with no hurry or rush to her movements. Muku, for her part, was content to let her partner do the main work of seducing her at this moment, her inexperience being the perfect excuse to see what Rhea had planned for her since she had given her consent to the act of her seduction.

As long as Rhea had been waiting, however, and as eager as she had been to venture this much closer to a human girl who felt as much like an extension of her own being as a clearly defined and independent person, still Rhea had no intention of rushing the act itself, intending to fully savor every moment, and to give her "Muku-chan" the full benefit of her extensive education in the sensual arts of pleasure, so she worked her hands gradually over the bare skin of her partner while systematically stripping her bare of any and all hindrances, including the clothes on her own nubile body.

Muku found the intimate contact both surprisingly pleasurable and intensely arousing, so when Rhea removed an article of clothing it was like shedding a layer of her own inhibitions, revealing to Muku how tactilely sensitive she could be to each and every caress of slender hands across her body. Rhea moved her lips down Muku's neck to her shoulder and somehow found every nerve worth stimulating along the way, giving Muku a strange shiver that went up and down her spine like a mild electrical current. She felt hands sliding around and underneath her bra before it, too, was peeled away to reveal a pair of nicely shaped breasts, not to large but very ripe indeed with nipples that ached for the sensation of those caresses. When Rhea cupped and fondled those breasts it was as if they were delicate fruit that she was testing for bruises, and Muku could only gasp and arch her head back as those sensitive fingers started to pinch and stretch her nipples, causing the tingle down her spine to jolt like an electrical fire that set her loins to pulsating as a little nub pushed forward and began to press up against the lining of her panties.

Soon Rhea's hands breached even the elastic barrier that surrounded Muku's widening hips, and then fingers found and explored the hub, caressing and teasing it as Muku gasped again in disbelief at the sensations this caused her. Before too long those panties were peeled down to expose a silky pelvic mound that Rhea could stroke and brush with her fingertips, causing Muku to squirm and writhe in the other girl's arms, finding the touch of those fingers so incredibly delicious!

As Rhea was in no hurry she took her time exploring each region of her partner's body, peeling away the last remaining undergarments as Muku rolled back onto the bed and instinctively lifted her legs to give her lover full access. Muku stared with half-lidded eyes as she saw Rhea straddling her with a longing in her eyes that more than matched her own enflamed ardor. Rhea went down on top of Muku and began planting kisses all over her face, neck, shoulders and tummy, gradually circling in a spiral to focus her attention on both of Muku's breasts, then lavishing upon them the bulk of her attention. Muku could only gasp with incredulous joy as she found her back arching as though to press her chest into the other girl's face, even as Rhea used gentle tongue-flicks and pressure-  
sensitive finger maneuvers to cause her breasts to harden and her nipples to become as hard as pebbles...right up to the moment when Rhea took one of them between her lips and began to suckle on that hard little teat, at which point Muku thought that she was floating on air as the sensations this caused her were indescribably arousing.

Muku did not know how long it took for Rhea to tire of one nipple and devote herself to pleasuring the other, but by the time Rhea was done working her there she had the feeling that she was about to lactate, a curious concept as it reminded her rather much of watching a dairy cow on a farm, and for some odd reason the thought made her feel almost like laughing. What Rhea did next, however, drowned out any thoughts of humor as the Bioroid painted a trail of affectionate kisses all the way down to Muku's lower body, at which point she began to play with the nerves in both of Muku's parted legs, planting kisses on the inner thigh of one and then circling around before doing the same thing to the other. Rhea alternated traveling down the length of each leg until she had a foot between her hands and was using her tongue to explore the space between her toes, then she sucked on the big toe and Muku nearly passed out from the sheer excitement this caused her. By the time Rhea was done playing with both of her feet Muku was left spent and panting for joy and wondering in a dull, befogged state just what was next on the agenda, and why was her pelvis feeling so much like it was on fire? Where next would Rhea strike? The suspense of that question was overwhelming.

Had Muku even the slightest prior sexual experience before this moment she would have easily predicted what next was on the menu, but it came as a complete surprise nonetheless when Rhea zeroed in on her aching groin as if drawn by the sense that something down there was about to go super-nova!

The first sense she had of Rhea's mouth touching her parted labia, however, caught Muku completely by surprise and caused such a firestorm of cascading electricity to flow across her nerve endings that she was soon clenching and unclenching like a fist, feeling her body churn from within as though she were about to spasm like a geyser...and-sure enough-her loins began pulsating moments later, a sure sign that warned Rhea in time of what was to happen so that she closed her mouth over Muku's pink-petaled opening and used her nose to stimulate her clitoris.

The next moment Muku nearly passed out at the eruption of her loins as something shot out of her and into the mouth of her partner, giving Muku a brief but intense illumination of what Girl-Girl sex was truly all about in the final nub, not just the orgasm but the sharing of life as a part of herself gushed into her adoring Iczer. Rhea expertly devoured each drop of sugary-sweet cum that she could entice from Muku's loins as the latter shook and screamed with a lesser aftershock that rocked her world to the very core and left her feeling as if she had just died to be reborn anew as a whole and complete woman.

Muku lay gasping for breath as Rhea gently eased her back from the edge with probing tongue-flicks, but at last Rhea felt bold enough to say, "Your turn, my love...allow me to share as well as to give you these pleasures.

Muku wanted to ask what Rhea meant by that but was too breathless to form words, but then her eyes bulged wide as she saw Rhea climbing up to straddle her on the bed, and then Rhea gazed down at her with fond adoration, her face as flush as Muku's from their mutual arousal, just before she lowered herself and brought her chest down over Muku's face, smothering the other girl between the gulf formed by her ample bosom.

At first Muku was dismayed to find herself framed by such rounded "pillows," but then the scent of Rhea's body caused her to feel even more aroused, and before she knew it she reached up with both hands and started playing with Rhea's chest, trying to copy the movements that had been used on her own breasts, albeit somewhat awkwardly and with less of an idea of where she was going. Instinct came to her rescue then and she started plying her mouth and lips to sensitive skin as she fondled Rhea's bosom somewhat awkwardly, getting more into the spirit of the thing when her mind reacted to the wonderful sense of how soft and pliable they were, and how nice if felt to squeeze them.

Rhea endured Muku's initial clumsiness with stoical determination, remembering all too well how shy and awkward she had been with her first bed mate back in New Gamora. Then Rhea had been the one who lacked for a clue of what the sex act was all about. She had the downloaded memories informing her of the mechanical side of the affair, but no real connection to the act itself, a critical deficiency of concept that her then-partner had worked very diligently at correcting.

Muku proved to be an even quicker study of the subject than had Rhea, warming up to the joy that was to be found in handling a woman's body, which was designed for the very purpose of being so pleasured. Women were, after all, sensitive and passionate creatures by birth, the legacy of endless ages of consensual bonding, and human women proved no less adept at this than C'thuwulf when it came to the arts of pleasure. All one needed to do was to stimulate that latent sensuality that lay dormant in many of their sex and you could awaken the Tiger of Passion, a flaming desire that-once brought to the surface-had an all-  
consuming flame that devoured both the woman and her lover.

Rhea still lacked a basic clue about what it meant for a woman to love a man, and men themselves seemed just plain...wrong and hairy. Some men intimidated her for reasons even Rhea did not truly understand, but when it came to Muku there was no hesitation at all. A woman's body made perfect sense to her, and Muku's body was a map over which to transverse at leisure, taking in the best sights while sampling the bounty that was to be offered.

For Muku, however, the discovery that a woman's body could be sexually arousing was like a burst of creative revelation, the sudden awakening of the sleeping hunger to which Muku had been all but oblivious until this happy moment. No wonder Sakura and Yui harbored such intense, private feelings, or why Yumi behaved like a religious convert discovering the joys of sex as a form of adoration. Rhea's body felt to her like a warmth, beautiful, incredible thing that just had to be touched, stroked, fondled and played with, her mouth and hands going everywhere they wanted to, whether it was to lapping at Rhea's breast like a hungry baby, to running her fingers up and down the bald mount that was the other girl's groin and finding something slick between her fingers as she touched and explored the soft, pedal-like lips of an unfolding labia. All at once Muku pulled her fingers away and gave off of trying to drain one of Rhea's tasty little nipples to study the moistness on her hand and stare in wonder at the sticky-slickness she found there. She only hesitated for about a minute more before Rhea urged her to bring her fingers up to her lips so that she might "have a sample" of the C'thuwulf's juices.

To say that the flavor was unlike anything she had ever tried before would have been a gross understatement. Muku was at a loss to describe the mixture of salty sweet brine with a tinge of mild bitterness that fired up all of her taste buds at once. Realizing that she had to explore this mystery further, she got out from underneath Rhea and rolled the other girl upon her back before pulling her partner's legs wide apart so that she could study her loins and discern their anatomy and all that came with it.

She did not know why it surprised her to discover that Rhea's loins were constructed in much the same fashion as her own basic anatomy, but staring at the other girl's widening labia was something of a revelation, especially when she exposed the nub that was the Bioroid's clitoris, and when she touched and toyed with it using just her fingers she was rewarded by the sound of Rhea gasping as she arched her back and made tight little noises. Sensing that she was onto something big here, and remembering vividly what her own orgasm had felt like, she bent down and brought her face down to the pelvis of another girl for the first time in her whole life...and she smelled the pungent aroma of the elvish girl's sex with a sudden mouth-watering appetite that needed to be sated in the worst way possible. So-putting any qualms she might have to the side-  
-Muku bent down and placed her lips over the nub then gently brought her teeth together and ever-so-lightly nipped it.

Rhea gave one sharp gasp and then her hips started quivering, and before Muku knew it something was squirting her in the face, causing her to back away with a start as the milky-white jism pasted her good and properly on the cheek, chin and lips. Reflexively she dabbed her face with one hand and licked her tongue across the side of her mouth and gave a gasp of her own at the potent flavor, then set about trying to clean off as much of the stuff as she could from her face while gobbling it down off the back of her hand. Her own actions surprised her but it was so damned good that she simply had to have more of such a flavorful concoction.

Before too long she was thrusting her tongue in deep into the loins of her adoring partner, swirling her tongue around inside the gab in search of even more jism. Rhea was thrashing on the bed, gripping her sheets and mattress while threatening to tear them asunder as her feet waved in the air like mini-  
fans, her toes curling in ecstasy as Muku drank her dry and brought her over the edge once again in a matter of moments.

This time Muku thought she was prepared to handle her lover when Rhea climaxed for a second time, only this was much greater than the first time, and she had failed to reckon with just how strong Rhea actually was, and what might happen if the other girl lost control over her basic autonomic systems. All at once Muku felt herself being picked up and flung across the length of the room, Rhea's body glowing with life and energy like a radiant sun coming out from the clouds, her naked form quivering and shaking as she thrashed upon her bed and arched her pelvis and legs with wild, frenzied motions that were at once intensely animalistic and unbelievably arousing. Even as Muku landed awkwardly at the base of the far wall she found herself staring in amazement as every loose object in the room started floating as if gravity itself had gone haywire, a phenomenon that lasted only a few brief, mind-blowing instants before reality settled in again and thing started to return to normal.

When at last Rhea stopped panting and Muku felt it self enough to venture an observation, the only thing that came to mind for her to say was, "Wow..."

"I'm...sorry...about that...Muku-chan," Rhea panted, "I...did not mean...to lose control like that...you just...found my weak-spot. I was...quite moved by your exertions..."

"Yeah, I guess so," Muku mused as she looked at the mess that had been a neat and orderly room mere minutes ago, "Are you gonna do that often?"

"I hope not...thought I think I do sort of hope it happens again," Rhea smiled sheepishly, "Perhaps we should try something basic this time, far less likely to...make a mess of my furnishings."

In spite of her awe over what had just happened, Muku found her desire to continue exploring this issue was even more intense than before, so she got to her feet and grinned, "Okay...where would you like me to start, Rhea-chan?"

Rhea gave her a smile that would have done credit to a cat and extended one of her bare legs like an offering, "Perhaps you'd like to try duplicating what I did with you a moment ago? You know the feet are enormously sensitive, being the anchor to the flow of the life energies that pass through the earth, much like a plug to a socket. Would you care to see what it is like to study that flow as it rises up throughout my body?"

Muku could not help grinning like a madwoman as she came over to Rhea and took the proffered leg between both hands, studying the elegant and shapely foot that was being offered to her for intensive study and remembering full well had nice it had been to be kissed and licked down there, to say nothing of having her toes sucked.

"All right, you're on," she murmured as she brought Rhea's foot up to her lips, "But just remember, you asked for this one, Honey..."

In the flames of their mutual arousal it only dimly registered on Rhea's mind that this was the first time that Muku had given her an affectionate pet-name, but the next minute she had other sensations on her mind and so gave herself up totally to the Podiatric study of her lower extremities, soon arching and moaning again as Muku threw herself into this quest with utter and complete abandon, proving a very adept student as she was inspired by the subject matter to do things that were pure, unadulterated instinct.

The magic flowed between them once again, and all the while the two lovers remained oblivious to the storm that gathered all around them...

"I've got you, Ken-san!" Atros cried as she threw her hands around the young man's armor-clad waist, ordering sternly, "ICZEL-ARMOR-DISENGAGE GRAVITY THUSTERS!"

"Whoah!" Ken declared as he found his forward plunge abruptly halted, and all at once he discovered that he was being supported by the dark-haired girl who had so recently been declared as his partner. He tried to glance over his shoulder to see her face but could only make out the top of his head with his peripheral vision, and so he awkwardly said, "Nice catch...you ever think of going pro?"

Atros ignored the man's jibing humor and said, "I think we should conduct this upon the ground level as you are clearly too inexperienced at flying to be trusted to do it solo."

"Hey, I'm doing the best I know how," Ken replied, "It's not like I've been doing this for a living, you know..." but other than this he made no complaint as the descended to the ground, whereupon Atros promptly released him.

"Thank you," he said awkwardly as he turned to study her face, dismayed to find that he was even taller than before standing next to her, and that she barely now came up to the level of his breastbone, "Ah...I was just coming to see you when...the strangest thing happened..."

"So I can see," Atros said dryly, "You've joined the Iczelion corps. Congratulations, you now comprise their entire male division."

"Well...everybody's got to be a pioneer at something, I suppose," Ken replied, glancing down at himself and adding rather lamely, "I don't know about you, though, but I feel funny going around in high heels."

For some reason Atros found her mouth quirking around the corners as he said that, but she mastered the gesture and sternly looked at him before saying, "Why are you here? Don't you know that we are about to be attacked and that soon the forces of Big Gold will be unleashed upon the planet?"

"Ah...yeah, about that," Ken replied, "Aren't I supposed to be your partner or...something like that? I know I'm not half the fighter that Muku or Sakura are, but I can hold my own in an average bout..."

"This is not like a martial arts tournament," Atros patiently explained, "The horde that is coming is comprised of many artificially created life forms, some nearly as dangerous as I am, and alone you would not stand a prayer in hell of resisting their forces. Even with Iczelion armor you would be overwhelmed by the sheer weight of their numbers..."

"Yeah? And what about you?" Ken asked with a frown, "Does the same thing apply? I mean...no offense or anything, but there's just the one of you standing alone here and-from the sound of things-you're going up against a whole army."

"I am an army unto myself," Atros explained, "I was created for battle and it is my function in life. If I should fall standing up against the tide brought about by the ones who created me, then so be it. I am a soldier and I am prepared to do my duty..."

"Doesn't sound like much of a life," Ken replied as he regarded her with a slight inclination of his helmeted head, "Are you telling me you have no other reason to life than to fight?"

"I...never considered any alternatives," Atros replied, "There is no point in speculating about a future that may not even exist if Big Gold were to have her way..."

"So, you're telling me that you're a big, bad Samurai and that you're gonna go down nobly and with honor intact facing impossible odds by your lonesome," Ken replied, "Well...sorry to have to inform you about this, lady, but...you're gonna have some backup, whether you want it or not."

Atros blinked before she stared up at the man and said, "I do not need any support...and I would fight better not having to worry about you..."

"So you're worried about me, huh?" he smirked, "That's nice to hear."

"That-that is not the point!" Atros sputtered, wondering why this human was causing such a reaction in her, and that annoying smirk of his...why was he looking at her that way? Human males were such confusing creatures...

"I think it is, Beautiful," Ken nodded, "And it's nice to hear for a change that somebody in this world doesn't find me a complete annoyance..."

"You are an annoyance!" Atros counter, "Leave now before you get hurt..."

"And leave you alone to fry?" Ken firmed his resolve, "Not a chance. Besides...if I understand this partnership thing correctly, you need me as a power source. I'm supposed to be the one who can make you invincible, right?"

"I don't need anyone..." Atros started to say, knowing it was a lie the moment she said it.

"That's what they all say," Ken sighed, "Muku or Sakura...you girls think you can go it all by yourself...and you have the gall to accuse us men of being stubborn. Well, no sense trying to out-Macho me, beautiful, I've been out-  
machoed by experts, and-in case you haven't noticed-I'm still here and I'm sticking close with you."

"But you will be hurt," Atros tried to reason, "And what good are you to me then?"

"I dunno," he shrugged, "But I'm sure we'll think of something..."

"Leave now while you can," Atros all but pleaded, then finally she did plead, "Please..."

To her surprise Ken reached out to cup her chin, tilting her head up slightly, and before she knew what he was about his face came down towards hers and he gave her a kiss that took her completely off-guard, so much so that she backed away from him, looking round-eyed and confused as though he had physically struck her.

"Why...why did you just do that?" she asked.

"Because I felt like it," Ken replied, "And you looked good enough for kissing. By the way, did anyone ever tell you that you look kind of cute when you're blushing?"

Atros automatically felt her cheek, then outrage began to boil up in her at this arrogant human, taking such presumptive liberties with her, so much so that she felt like demonstrating to him why it was folly to cross an Iczer...and yet she found herself at a loss for any suitable means of retaliation.

But then a harsh laughter broke the mood for both of them, and Atros turned in annoyance to see the figure and form standing off a bit away from them with a haughty continence that spoke of an arrogance far greater than Ken Tofu's.

"So it seems you've found yourself another conquest, Tofu-san," the leering figure remarked, "Just like you to play the field while that whore you call your fianc e is off making sport with another woman."

"Gel?" Ken blinked his eyes, unable to believe that the missing Kuno sibling was standing there before them, yet unable to avoid recognizing that haughty manner and condescending air that denoted the less popular twin to the more gregarious Perm, "Is that really you this time?"

"Oh yes," replied the purple haired girl with the flashing red eyes and the imperious manner, "Long time no see, Ken-san...looks like you have been busy. Sorry that I can't stay and chat, you know, but there is indeed a war going on, and you are definitely not needed to wage it."

With that she gestured with a hand and a beam of energy lanced from her fingers. Without thinking about it Atros threw herself in the way and used both arms to deflect the bolt, which struck hard enough to knock her off her feet and into Ken's embrace.

"Oh, how romantic," Gel remarked as she blew on her finger as if it were a smoking pistol, "Took the bolt for your loved one. You always did know how to charm them, Tofu-san..."

"Perm?" Ken asked as he held Atros in his arms while the Iczer recovered from the shock of impact, "What's happened to you? What are you doing?"

"Isn't it obvious, Clever Boy?" Gel smiled cruelly, and then all at once her body began shimmering as her clothing dissolved and was replaced a moment later by an even more impressive array of battle armor than what he was wearing. She towered over Ken and leered, "I'm here to destroy you, not to mention the rest of those annoying pests you call your friends. Now...where is Muku-chan? My Mistress wishes to greet her in a private audience..."

Atros grunted as she got back to her feet and disengaged herself from her partner's embrace, "Don't listen to her...Ken-san...she's not the woman you knew..."

"Quite correct," Perm replied with a vicious leer at the both of them, "I am the new and improved version, and this is where you two meet a fate reserved for enemies and traitors."

"What are you...?" Ken barely heard the warning of the armor he was wearing as it spoke into his mind and informed him that there was another attack bearing down on his left flank. Without hesitation he threw himself to the side just as a laser sword sliced the space where he had been standing.

"TOFU-KEN, PREPARE TO DIE!" roared a malevolent looking Godai Kuno, himself armored in the style reminiscent of his armor-clad sister, the glowing blade held in both hands seeming far more deadly than any mere Star Wars-inspired merchandise.

Atros reacted to another attack being hurled by Gel, this time coming in the form of metallic ribbons that lanced out in an attempt to engage her, and almost off-handedly she cried out, "Be on your guard, they are enemies, not friends!"

"Tell me something I don't already know, Beautiful!" Ken called out as another lunge by Kuno came close to taking his head off. Almost in instinct he reached out to the side and found himself gripping a blade of his own, which same he brought up to deflect Godai's third pass, only to discover with surprise that it was an energy blade that felt as light as air and was incredibly fluid. He stepped away to examine it, then smiled to himself as he said, "Well...what do you know...I've got one of these things too."

"So it seems," Godai replied, "But do you know how to use it?"

Saying this the armored Godai suddenly vanished in a hail of pixilation, leaving Ken to gasp in surprise, "Where'd he go...?"

"Behind you!" the voice of Unit 72 called into his mind, but just a second or too late for Ken to do anything useful about it.

All at once he felt something hit him in the back like a sharp poker, and all at once he saw the energy beam protruding from his chest, slightly off a bit from any major organs but still doing incredible heat damage as it burned the wound all around it.

Ken's cry of astonished pain brought Atros around with a gasp as she vanished from Gel's range of attack and appeared again to plant a solid kick against the unprotected center of Godai, kicking him away with great force as she caught the stumbling Ken into her arms.

"Ken-san...are you...?" she started to ask when she realized how stupid the question was considering the nature of the wound that he had just taken.

"I'm...just a little...winded..." Ken tried to say when he found himself forced to cough a bit, only to taste a peculiarly coppery tang on his lips.

Atros stared wide-eyed at the sight of blood on her partner's mouth, but before she could say anything another bolt of energy struck the invisible field of force surrounding Ken's body, going right through both it and his armor as it left another gaping hole in his chest, this time closer to his stomach.

"Pay attention to who you're fighting, Fool," Gel declared in cruel disdain for the harm she had just inflicted, "Turning your back on an enemy is fatal in any battle!"

Rather than reply to the taunt Atros threw her head back and cried out a scream to fill the heavens...and in response to her cry the sky itself was split with thunderous lightning...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/C'thuwulf Obituaries: shadowmane

Is this the end for Ken and Atros? Is Earth about to be ravished by the Venomoid forces unleashed upon the planet? Can the C'thuwulf escape from the trap that has ensnared their defensive forces, and will Muku and Rhea awake in time to the danger posed against their friends and loved ones? Be with us next time for: "Out of the Frying Pan, onto the Grill," or "Wok Around the Clock Tonight!" Be there!

X -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	38. Chapter 38

Earthchild38

The Earthchild

(A Ranma/Iczer/Sailor Moon Crossover)

by Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi,  
Naoko Takeuchi, Toshihiro Hirano,  
&amp; Hitoshi Okuda, with ideas and suggestions by TH Tiger and Johannes Huber)

Chapter Thirty-Eight.

"Oh, there you are," Sayoko said without turning around, "I was wondering when you'd show up, Darling. It's been a couple of days, I'd think you'd at least be eager to see our daughter."

"Of course I'm eager to see our child," Iczer Two assured her partner, approaching the generation tube in which a tiny embryo had been grown to the size of a small fetus, roughly equivalent to four months of the human pregnancy cycle, "She's growing up nicely, a beautiful child, just like her mother."

"Of course she'll take after you in the looks department," Sayoko mused, "But if I have anything to say about it she'll have a good chunk of my personality in her matrix."

"Then she will be both stunningly beautiful and wild as a newly grown flower," Iczer Two said as she put an arm around her partner's shoulder and stared in wonder at the new life that had a part of her DNA in its tiny matrix, "Hard to believe that we have taken this long to have a child together. I admit that the fault is mine for not proposing it sooner..."

"Are you sure that's it?" Sayoko turned to her, "You know, I can't help thinking that it's just as much my fault because I turned you down all those years ago..."

"Turned me down?" Iczer Two was briefly confused by that statement.

"You know," Sayoko replied, "Back when Iczer One and Nagisa decided to marry. You didn't want to be left behind by her, especially since you already shared so much else with your sister, so you proposed to me and asked me to marry you...and you remember what my response was?"

"Ah..." Iczer Two did indeed remember, "You said you were happy with the way things were, that it was too soon to try any major changes in our lifestyle. You said you wanted more time..."

"I said a lot of stuff I've since lived to regret," Sayoko replied, "Not the first time in my case, but I'm glad you stuck with me even when I was being such a bitch and you were trying to be so sweet and romantic."

"I'd hardly say that you were behaving like a bitch," Iczer Two said with slightly ruffled dignity, "But I took your refusal as an acknowledgement that we were perhaps proceeding a little too fast in our relationship..."

"Too fast?" Sayoko arched an eyebrow, "We'd been together for nearly two years when you popped the question on me, and I reacted like you'd just asked me to perform Shakespeare in the nude before my parents. In the eight years since that time I've been kicking myself on a regular basis, and if you asked the question now...well...let's just say you'd get a very different answer."

Iczer Two took a moment to react to this, so many conflicting emotions showing on her normally stoical features that she could have modeled for a Kabuki dancer. At last she said, "I...I wanted to ask you again...and now that we're having a baby..."

"The answer is yes," Sayoko smiled up at her, "If you still want to marry me, then I'll be your wife and wear one of those cute little tattoos around my eye, just like Nagisa."

Iczer Two held Sayoko closer to her body as the emotions welled up within her, and she closed her eyes as the years that she had held this woman in her arms flowed through her memories like a flood of images, tastes, sensations and sounds, all replayed with crystal clarity as a lifetime of sharing and warmth, a lifetime that began from the moment of their meeting and brought them to this moment when a child of their love had been conceived through C'thuwulf methods.

"You make me happy," Iczer Two said softly, "I never knew what happiness was before we met. I can never think of what life would be like without you, which is why the future is so precious to me now, and I cannot conceive of a future without you in it."

"Huh?" Sayoko puzzled, "Are you going melodramatic on me again, Duella?"

Another time that affectionate nickname might have caused a momentary pang as she would much rather be called "Nichan," but if it made Sayoko happy she would (as the humans say) grin and bear it.

"We have a major crisis on our hands," she started to explain, "Our people are in danger...Gold is mobilizing for a major offensive, and that means we must resort to extreme measures to insure that our people...and our daughter...have a future together."

"Sounds serious enough," Sayoko remarked, "So, when do we go into battle?"

"Immediately," Iczer Two turned to look fully at her human partner, "I've already made all of the arrangements, but before we do this...I have to warn you...what I am proposing to do is very dangerous, and there is a good chance that neither one of us will be walking away from this one. There is an equal chance that our daughter will grow up only knowing us in historical archives."

"oh," Sayoko said as she studied the Bioroid's expression, "It's that kind of mission, huh? Well...I can't say I like the idea of our daughter only knowing about us because of some virtual recreation based on our recorded engrams, but if we have to go out against impossible odds and give it our all...there's nobody I'd want to spend all eternity with more than you, Nichan. I'd also hate the idea of you going on alone and leaving me behind, so...if we gotta do our part for Queen and Country..."

"We C'thuwulf have not had a queen since countless centuries, back during our early days of empire," Iczer Two remarked, "But I agree wholeheartedly...there is no one I would rather face the final night with beyond you, my Love. The thought of going on without you...is not to be contemplated. Even so, the danger is far greater than you know, and that is why I want you to understand that I am doing this for love...for love of you, our people, and most of all, for our as-yet unborn daughter. By the way...have you chosen a name yet?"

"Not yet," Sayoko replied, "Just so long as it's not Iczer Seven."

"That will be her designation," Iczer Two replied, "Her name...that is something special given by her parents."

"I think maybe...Scarlet, like your eyes," Sayoko smiled winsomely, "I got the idea after hearing about Rhea's girlfriend's mother..."

"Akane?" Iczer Two replied with lifted eyebrows, "Oddly appropriate. Yes...Scarlet she will be, the color of life, the color of passion, the color of blood. A fitting name for our daughter."

"Just remember," Sayoko warned, "I get as much of a say in how she's raised as you do, so I won't have you indoctrinating her to be a soldier, like you were. She can defend herself just like anyone else, but she'll be a child of life, just like Rhea, not a troublemaker like your Nova."

"Ah," Iczer Two rolled her eyes, "You are never going to let me live that one down, are you?"

"Damned straight," Sayoko got an arched expression, "By the way, you don't have any others like her hidden around somewhere that I don't know about, do you?"

"I assure you, Darling," Iczer Two replied, "One like Nova is more than enough."

"Good," Sayoko nodded, "Because I wouldn't put it entirely past you to have a kid with your sister. Incest doesn't really bother you C'thuwulf as much as it does most Terrans..."

"My sister?" Iczer Two blinked, "With One?"

"Hey, it's not so far-fetched when you think about it," Sayoko noted, "You two get a long fantastically these days, and I'll bet you could have a beautiful baby of your own sometime...or doesn't that trick work when you mix two C'thuwulf together."

"I confess that the idea has never even crossed my mind until now," Iczer Two assured her partner, looking fondly into her eyes as she said, "That is the thing I would most miss about you, Sayoko...you never fail to surprise me, and life is always more interesting with you around...but as I said, our need is great and the risk...the risk is preferable to having Gold triumph over all. I would make any sacrifice to spare our daughter such a future, and I know you would as well, which almost makes this part a little easier...almost."

"Huh?" Sayoko asked, "What are you...?"

Iczer Two's eyes never left her partner as she pressed her palm up against her heart and briefly willed the energy pulse to flow from her hand into Sayoko's body. Her partner jolted in shock as the pulse stopped her heart and froze her body in a state of instant termination. Without a sound Sayoko sagged into her lover's arms and Iczer Two caught her up in her embrace, holding her tightly as she felt the human girl go limp as death replaced the vibrancy that had flowed within her mere instants beforehand.

"Forgive me, my Love," Iczer Two murmured, "I wish this was not necessary..."

And then the most amazing thing...she felt Sayoko's soul flow from her body into the Bioroid's own physical matrix, and Iczer Two absorbed the life-giving Iczerio of the woman she loved, her armor glowing briefly as the surge of vitality flowed all throughout her system. She opened her eyes and felt the change within her, no longer just Iczer Two but something different, a mingling of two halves that now perfectly fit together.

Without a word she rose to her feet and lifted Sayoko's body in her arms, then turned as she mentally opened the catch of a pre-prepared Regenerator Cylinder, placing Sayoko's body inside of this and activating the mechanism along its pre-  
programmed channels. The cylinder filled with Bio-Amniotic fluid and began to hum as Iczer Two rested a hand against the outer casing, looking in at the now-  
preserved Sayoko and feeling the remorse of having taken such a drastic course of actions. Hopefully, by the time anyone found out about what she had done and was planning to do, it would be too late for either of her sisters to prevent or countermand her chosen course of actions.

"Forgive me," she murmured, "But what I do I do for the both of us."

With that declaration given she teleported from the birthing cubicles and manifested inside the control cabin of her Iczer Robo, starting up all systems as she spoke gruffly into the com-system, "This is Defender One, Unit Beta is ready for launch. Clearance Channel Omega-Alpha-Delta-Two."

"Acknowledged, Commander," came the immediate reply, "They can sure use you out there...our people are getting slaughtered."

"Tell them hope is on the way," Iczer Two declared, "I am going to finish this war once and forever. Launching now!"

And with that she teleported her Iczer Beta and appeared again at the pre-  
programmed coordinates of Subspace, to be greeted by the trio who were waiting to meet her.

"About time you showed up," Nami in her black Iczelion armor said, "We've been keeping tabs on the access gate and it hasn't shifted since the point of insertion."

"Big Gold must be incredibly confident or just plain sloppy to leave the access port unshielded," Kiiro in her Gold Iczelion armor noted, "Not that I expect this mission to be a cakewalk."

"Are we going in to pay the enemy a much-needed visit, Commander?" Kawai in her Silver Iczelion armor wondered, "If so, then we all stand united and ready."

"Then form on me and stay close," Iczer Two directed, "I'm expecting you to run interference while I concentrate my firepower against the big guns, understood?"

"You got it," Nami replied, "You and Sayoko just try and keep up with us...we've been waiting to do this since the last war was finished."

"Yes...Sayoko and I will be right behind you," Iczer Two replied, not bothering to add how literally true this statement was, or what it portended when the final battle with Big Gold was at last undertaken...

"Oh yeah," Nova grimly smiled, "Just like I expected from you, Grandma. Bring it on and let's see just how tough you make 'em..."

The portal gate roiled open and all at once nightmarish things began to pour our as Nova balled her fists and called upon her internal power, ready to unleash her fury on the Venomoids and Bioroids who had come to attack her mother's adopted planet.

"This is for Yui-chan, you Slime-Sucking Bastards!" Nova cried as she brought both hands forward and let loose with a fury that fried the very air and reduced the first wave of energy forces into ashes and cinders...

Meanwhile, high in the air far above the battling Iczer, two sets of near-  
identically armored Yuis appeared, flying somewhat unsteadily as the sight of the distant ground disoriented both versions of the Iczelion-conscripted Senshi. Both twins fought to remain airborne, saying in stereophonic panic, "WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON HERE? HOW DID I/WE GET THIS HIGH..."

"Our apologies, Companion Yui," said a voice into the minds of both women, "There was no time to prepare you, but if you will relax and trust yourselves to us we will make everything apparent."

"Oh yeah?" said both Yuis in chorus, "Well...how are we supposed to relax when we're ten frigging miles above Tokyo?"

"But you are not falling," the companion voices replied, "This Unit has the power to cancel out the pull of gravity, so you have little to fear so long as you open your minds to us and allow us to inform you on how to interface with your Iczelion armors."

"Oh?" one Yui turned to the other, "Think we should trust this guy?"

"You think we have any choice?" her twin asked.

"Hmm...good point," Yui agreed, then the two of them chorused together, "All right, you've made your point...now...how do we control you?"

"As this Unit says, open your minds and allow the interface to happen," the Iczelion replied, and then Yui closed both of her twin sets of eyes and relaxed both minds and bodies...and seconds later a flood of images began to flow, along with mental instructions that included neural connections and interface points.

"Oh!" Both Yuis declared as the process was concluded, "So that's the way it's done?"

"This unit is going to have to accustom itself to bifocal interface," the Iczelion each chorused, giving Yui the faint suspicion that its tone had a note of faint exasperation, "You now command your armor...this Unit is at your disposal."

"Cool!" both Yuis declared before exchanging looks and smiling at one another, then one asked of her twin, "What should we do now?"

"Good question," her counterpart said, "We could really kick some major butt with this stuff on..."

"Ladies," the Iczelion remarked in what sounded like barely restrained patience, "Might this Unit suggest that you direct your attention at ground level?"

"HUH?" both Yuis asked together, then as one they blanched as they saw energy flashes signifying a major battle was underway.

"What the heck is that?" one Yui asked of the other.

"Somebody's down there trying to take on a whole army by the look of things," the other Yui replied, "Looks like they're fighting against a whole bunch of scary looking monsters."

"Now who would be crazy enough to do that on their lonesome?" the first Yui wondered, then exchanged startled looks with her companion as the two of them chorused, "NOVA!"

"Ladies," the Iczelion spoke again, "This unit has the ability to magnify sensory abilities...if you wish to focus, then concentrate on magnifying the image and this one will accommodate."

Both Yuis did as instructed, and were surprised to find that the mere act of looking brought everything into sharper focus so that they could see Nova fighting valiantly against a seemingly endless tide of monsters, her hands flashing fire while her beam swords sliced through many an armored form and reduced some attackers into mere fractions of their former substance.

Nova was tiring fast and knew it, having cut loose without restraint in the mistaken belief that her reserves would be more than adequate to the challenge. For the first thousand or so of her enemies she cut down she had a sense of exhilaration, an overwhelmingly high confidence level that as much as boasted that she was more terrible than anything the legions of Gold had to offer.

Such bravado was starting to give way, however, as she learned very quickly that even her formidable powers did have some limits.

"This is nuts!" she murmured to herself as she shattered the hide of a Void with a punch, then finished it off with a sweep of her beam sword, "I knew Gold was growing herself an army of you parasites but I never thought she'd throw them all away. She must really be pulling out all the stops, but no matter what you guys do I won't let you have my Yui!"

"Is she doing all that for us?" one Yui asked.

"Hard to believe," the other remarked, "But it looks more like she's about to get her butt kicked."

"Yeah, the odds are pretty bad, even for her," the first Yui frowned a bit, "And if those guys coming out of that portal are as bad as they're ugly, then it doesn't look too good for the planet."

"Yeah, I hate bullies," the second Yui agreed, "Even she doesn't deserve to get troused like that."

"So...we gonna do anything about it?" the first Yui asked.

"Hey, you know we never could stay away from a fight," the second one agreed, and then together they smiled and prepared to make use of their armored enhancements.

Nova was struggling to keep both of her beam sabers lit as she slashed and hacked her way through the ranks of her attackers, dispatching Voids and Venomoids alike while slicing Geos into their constituent gene strands. Her strength was just beginning to flag and she felt a brief flash of desperation as the tide surged anew, threatening to overwhelm her defenses in mere seconds but then a curious thing happened...her armor started to glow and her power reserves began swelling to full maximum. It felt to her as though her energy levels had just doubled, and more, she felt the presence of the one with whom she was soul-  
bonded grow near her, and in surprise she gasped, "Yui-chan?" more as a statement than a question.

And then fire began to rain down on her enemies from the heavens, flashes of bright energy that struck enemy troops and burst them into flame like roman candles. So devastating was the rain of fire that even the horde had to break off and give wide berth to the free-fire zone all around the astonished Nova, and when the aerial bombardment gave sway Nova found herself standing untouched at the center of a crater formed around her in which only smoldering and charred bodies could be seen in a fifty yard radius.

"Darn, we missed," a familiar voice mused from directly overhead, causing Nova to look up as she saw the second Yui remark, "Best two out of three then?"

"Yui-chan?" Nova gasped, then in delight she cried, "You saved me! I knew you cared!"

"Don't jump to any conclusions just yet," Yui one cautioned the Bioroid.

"There's still a lot of your playmates around, so don't get any ideas," the other Yui cautioned.

"Hey, I'm just glad to see you guys!" Nova gushed, only to pause and say, "No...wait a minute...no I'm not! You gotta get out of here! These guys may be pushovers, but I know for a fact that Big Gold's got lot more in reserve than just these clowns to throw at us, and some of them are downright nasty."

"A opposed to?" the first Yui asked when out of nowhere vines appeared to snag her out of the air, wrapping around her armored form and threatening to choke her.

"HEY!" the other Yui cried, creating a beam saber in her own hand without half-  
thinking, but before she could apply it to liberating her twin a cloud of black mist formed up and surrounded her, closing in like a fist and totally engulfing her in coal blackness.

"HEY!" Nova cried in outrage, "You leave her alone!" she snarled as she formed two beam-sabers, one in either hand, and prepared to lash out at the vines on the one hand and the black powder on the other.

Before she even got the chance a wave of water crashed in on her and swept the Bioroid off of her feet, causing her to sputter and fight against the surging tide as it swirled her up into a vortex. Nova summoned her energies and immediately expanded a force bubble in all directions, exploding it outward and creating a vacuum of space in the area surrounding her body, then allowed her field to collapse and glared angrily at where she sensed was the source of her current problems, a trio of levitating humans in fancy bio-armor whose design and manufacture was unmistakably of Gold's origin.

"You guys have just bought it for real!" Nova swore, "Nobody messes with my Yui and gets away with it!"

"But we are not nobodies anymore," declared a woman whose body was green-tinged and whose hair was verdant hued and whose armor seemed to be comprised entirely of plant-like material.

"We are the new and improved Lords of the Heavens," declared a second womanly figure in jet-stream sleek material that accented her windblown hair of frosty hue that offset her dusky skin coloration.

"The Masters of Disaster and the Bringers of Chaos," the third figure revealed, a Japanese-looking woman whose long dark hair was rivaled for ebony by the coal-  
black armor that covered substantial (yet revealing) portions of her body, "The Servants of Big Gold, who has made us powerful and deadly."

"Vine!"

"Jetstream!"

"Carbon!" they all three declared, the third adding almost as an afterthought, "And one other who completes our set, who very much would like to greet you in person."

"Huh?" Nova said when she sensed an attack descending upon her from her right flank and immediately moved to attempt to counter when a stream of cold washed over her body, causing her to feel a chill unlike the cold of space, which slowed her down considerably as frozen moisture condensed all around her body, and in seconds she was in a block of ice and totally immobile."

"Ice!" declared the fourth of these bizarre attackers, "Why don't you chill out, Hot stuff? I'm sure Big Gold would like to welcome you back to her fold, and your little partners with you...albeit not necessarily in one whole piece, eh?"

The Yui struggling against the vines that were wrapped around her and the Yui being choked by smothering charcoal both heard the laughter of the enemy elite soldiers and bridled with pent-up fury that ignited into a blazing inferno...

Iczelion armor is unique and unlike any other kind of exo-skeletal frame ever designed or in current existence. It is a living machine whose sole purpose is to bond with a human partner with whom it then forms a spiritual and physical attachment, creating a hybrid warrior mode in which the natural abilities of the human are greatly augmented to a level nearly equivalent to the power levels of an Iczer. Powered by the Iczerio force, the living energy Matrix that gives all Iczers their phenomenal powers, the armor converts the life energy and emotional/spiritual power of the wearer into useable energy that can perform a number of functions from mere teleportation to the destructive energy blasts that could lay waste to a good sized human city.

And yet each armor is individually tailored to suit the needs of each wearer, and no two human hosts are entirely alike, so the levels of power tended to range from the formidable to the truly awesome. Only special individuals were selected to be a part of the elite Iczelion corps, and only those individuals who could manifest sufficiently high levels of Iczerio power could bond with this living armor. Because of the dual nature of the C'thuwulf/Earth alliance, members of the corps were drawn from the ranks of both the Terran and C'thuwulf populations, and all of them were regarded as Sisters who shared a special bond and were entrusted with the defense of the planet.

Given all that, a force comprising over ninety-eight Iczelions was certainly formidable in any conventional sense, and any one of them was worth the might of an entire legion of a more conventional army, but given that the odds arrayed against them was something more like five-thousand to one, and given that the Voids and Geos alone could give even an Iczelion trouble, and the odds looked very grim indeed as the Iczelion force was met head-on by half a million strong of Big Gold's evil armada.

"This is nuts!" Troi declared as she unleashed the fury of her Iczer-Robo on the first wave of attackers who descended upon their position, "They're coming at us from everywhere at once!"

"All units form up in ranks and guard your flanks!" Iczer One commanded from Iczer Robo-Alpha, "Don't let them overwhelm you and keep an eye out for your nearest partners!"

"Ichan, watch out!" Nagisa cried as her eye motions were mentally transmitted to her partner, giving Iczer One time enough to see the wave of attackers bearing down on them from above in a sweeping attack at their undefended high ground.

Iczer One responded by erecting a field with both arms raised to empower it, and the descending wave crashed hard against the field of containment, nearly buckling the field until Nagisa rallied her spirits to reinforce it, at which point the entire wave was swept by a blast of energy that detonated many of the Geos and caused their neighboring Voids to flash-fry, incinerating the Venomoids who bolstered their ranks.

"Second wave down below!" Troi called out, moving in time to hurl a wide-range destructive beam that caught the lead wave and reduced it into cinders. More Venomoids and enemy Bioroids plunged through, however, and those got up under the ranks of the Iczelions and began to wreck havoc among the valiant defenders.

Sakura stared in her canopy-like protective cabin, the Bio-amniotic fluid that filled her lungs and sustained her life serving also as a shock protector as waves of force battered their Iczer-Robo from all sides. She saw Iczelions struggling mightily to battle the hosts that sought to overwhelm them, and a few of these brave women fell prey to the force of enemy numbers, one of them expiring right outside of her cabin, affording Sakura a front-row seat to a sight that attested to the true horrors of such warfare. She saw the fear in the woman's eyes as Venomoids swarmed in and overwhelmed the defenses of her armor, saw the horrible creatures infesting the woman's body and transforming it into a nightmarish horror even as her Iczelion armor reacted by defensively self-destructing, immolating the woman into a flash-fried corpse within seconds, at which point Sakura simply lost it, her horror becoming outrages and her rage transforming into an imperious reaction.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" she cried as the image of the woman dying burned its way into her mind, her battle instincts crying out for the need to avenge such a hideous death, and where another girl might have quailed into a timid ball from fear that such a fate might befall her, Sakura reacted like a true Saotome by getting very, very angry, at which point Troi felt the surge and knew at once that her partner was going ballistic.

"Oh Frel!" Troi exclaimed with rounded eyes as she sensed all systems within her control cabin were being countermanded, "It's happening again...!"

"MONSTERS!" Sakura cried, her rage literally boiling over as Iczer Robo Theta started glowing with a repulsive force that swept over the ranks of the Iczelions like a rash of heat, leaving the Iczelions untouched but causing the Venomoids to catch fire while the Voids and Geos began to short-circuit. "MONSTERS!" she cried again, this time reaching up instinctively as Iczer Theta copied the gesture and gripped hold of the protruding handle of the giant spatula presently strapped across its massive backside.

"Here we go again!" Troi noted with grim fatalism as she watched helplessly as her own Iczer Robo was taken over by her partner, but rather than fight the transition she decided to bolster it by merging her power with Sakura's as the latter launched their thruster jets and hurled their giant Mecha forward, spatula already in motion as she swept the sky like a giant flyswatter.

"What is she doing?" Nagisa asked in amazement.

"I don't know," Iczer One remarked, "But I think she's got their attention. Enemy forces are converging on Iczer Theta, and since she's broken formation there's not a whole lot we can do to back her up."

"But they'll be killed!" Nagisa cried out in horror, seeing the lone Iczer Robo moving to take on the bulk of the enemy forces.

"One, Nagisa-chan," Troi called out, "It's all right...I think I know what she's doing. You go get 'em, Girlfriend! I'll back you all the way!"

One of the Iczelion unit leaders reported in by saying, "Protector...will she be all right? Is it wise to let your sister go off half-cocked on her own?"

"I don't think we have a lot of choice on the matter, Lieutenant," Iczer One replied, "But just in case, have your forces remain on standby mode. She bought us a few moments of relief, let's take advantage of that to reinforce our position..."

One of the enemy units that had remained apart from the others, watching and coordinating the attack from a distance, frowned in dismay at the sight of the lone-Iczer charging her ranks with nothing but a hundred-and-fifty foot long cooking implement in both armored hands, a bewildering sight given the nature of this all-or-nothing battle.

"What in Hell's name is she doing?" asked Fire, yet another servant of Gold and member of the reconstituted "Lords of the Heavens." The former human turned Bioroid Hybrid frowned and said, "Master Neos...we have a situation..."

And at that moment-separated only by the barrier of space and time, to say nothing of a Subspace Shield generator system presently containing the Iczelions within its finite borders-Neos Gold intercepted the transmissions of her lieutenant and said, "Deal with it...we have a matter of our own to contend with. I expect you to crush the Iczelions and bring glory to the name of our Master, or else we both will suffer the consequences."

Neos frowned in irritation as she surveyed her own field of battle, having been confident of an easy victory only to find her elegant attack plan had run aground of some unexpectedly firm resistance.

It had begun simple enough with her forces applying pressure against the weakening shields surrounding the C'thuwulf Worldship, and she could taste the victory at hand as she anticipated crushing the life out of Sir Violet herself, when-out of no where-energy bombardments had begun lancing out at her forces from the surface of the moon, and without warning her troops came under attack from some rather unexpected quarters.

There had been reports that the humans had a military base upon the moon that was a part of their terrestrial defense system, a hidden base called Alpha that was part of a shadowy network of such ultra-tech defenses under the command of an organization that (appropriately enough) called itself by the acronym SHADO. Neos had dismissed this concern as of little relevant interest, remembering the ease with which her forces had breached a similar lunar defense complex during her original attack some fifteen years back, but now it seemed that the humans had greatly augmented their defenses as the energy bombarding her units contained enough raw firepower to fry even a Void if it struck true upon their armor.

Neos cursed how this artillery fire had proven effective in disrupting the cohesive ranks of her attacking armada, but this was not the only unpleasant surprise in store for her as she soon discovered that the C'thuwulf had been secretly arming their allies with more than just a few new tricks to fortify their forces...

"I think we got their attention, Commander," said Lieutenant Price as she surveyed the tactical displays of their long-range cannon-fire upon the enemy units.

Commander John Koenig acknowledged this report with grim-faced determination (actually there were many who said that the man lacked any other expression but to be "grim-faced" in everything he did, though his wife would probably have given them an argument on that last point). He turned to Lieutenant Commander Maya and said, "Tell Foster to launch all Eagles. I want to clear the skies of all enemies, and let's show the C'thuwulf that we're more than equal to the task of being their allies."

"As you command, Sir," the alien Science Officer smiled as she turned her exotic looks to the com-board and said, "On your mark, Colonel Foster...launch all Eagles."

"Roger that, Alpha Control," a full bird Colonel acknowledged as he prepped his engines for immediate launch, "Let's heat them up, Ladies and Gentlemen, we've got some friends to rescue, and it would be rude of us to keep them waiting."

The camouflaged entrances that littered the lunar landscape with secret exit points began disgorging Eagle Fighters, catapulting these lethal hybrid space-  
interceptors on rail-gun carriages to assist in launch before each fighter individually ignited their engines. Wave after wave of Eagles were jettisoned out into the void, and with the Moon's light gravity they soon achieved escape velocities, forming up by wing as they took off at tremendous velocities, moving hard about on an interception course with Neos-Gold's unsuspecting forces.

Koenig nodded in tacit acceptance as Commander Maya reported the successfully deployment of all available combat-ready fighters, then he directed his attention to the communications officer and informed his purple-haired lieutenant, "Lieutenant Grape, order the deployment of Fuji One. They are to assist with fire support with their long-range cannons, but tell Captain Candy that she is to avoid direct engagement with the enemy until it becomes absolutely necessary."

"As you command, Sir," the C'thuwulf officer replied, relaying her instructions by relay net to the other side of the Moon, whereupon a base located on the Dark Side replied with an acknowledgement and Omega Base went into full Red Alert mode with people scrambling to prepare for the immediate launch of their ultimate defense weapon.

The Fuji One lifted off from her secret hanger, rising majestically like her namesake into the inky cold night-side of the lunar body, a sleek porpoise-like space-worthy vessel that was the Earth's most powerful warship, gliding around into orbit-vector as the ship oriented towards its goal, the C'thuwulf Worldship, ready to lend assistance to its gallant defenders.

Captain Candice O'Rorke sat in her command chair watching the helm as the view of the Sun rising over the lunar horizon automatically triggered their screen filters. She could see the tactical display showing the Eagle fighters converging on the enemy horde while continuous fire from the light side of the moon prevented the enemy from rallying and regrouping their scattered forces. She allowed herself the faintest of grim smiles before relaying to her First Officer, "Hold her steady as she goes, Rob, and take us into position for long range cannon fire. Let's see how Neos Gold likes being greeted by old friends come calling."

"With pleasure, Captain," Commander Robert Taggert acknowledged, also smiling in grim humor, "It's been quite a while...I'm sure she'll be surprised to see the Queen Fuji One recommissioned and back in full operation."

"At present speed we'll be in position in fifteen-point-two minutes, Captain," Lieutenant Avocado smiled as she reported, "Won't my people be thrilled to see the heroes of the last Gold War sailing to our rescue."

"Yes indeed, Lieutenant," Candy smiled as she leaned forward in her command chair, "They say revenge is a dish served cold...well, the Queen Fuji is about to heat things up considerably, people...and-for the record, in case anyone cares to hear this...the C'thuwulf are our people too. We won't allow anyone to spill a drop of innocent blood while there breathes a single Earth defender to raise a fist in challenge..."

The first coherent thing that Ken heard himself remarking was something to the effect that dying did not quite hurt as much as he would have imagined. In fact, despite the fact that he had a hole in his shoulder and another in his stomach, he felt pretty good overall...in fact, better than good...almost like he was floating...

And then it occurred to him that he was indeed floating in something...something that felt thick and viscous and tasted a little too much of saltwater taffy. He opened his eyes and found himself in strange, unfamiliar surroundings, and there were tubes attached to his body...and he was naked. That alone by itself was not the most disturbing aspect of it all, however, as he discovered-to his dismay-that he was breathing in a liquid and yet most affirmatively NOT drowning!

"What in the...?" he asked aloud, only to make his next discovery that he could talk normally for all that his lungs were full of liquid. Staring out ahead he saw a transparent bubble opening out on a lofty view of the city of Nerima, and at an appropriate estimate he placed himself somewhere around the tenth floor of an unusually shaped office building...

Or-at least-that was what he took it to be until he found that it was starting to move...

Atros was herself just then recovering from a massive shock that had nearly caused her to shut down, and in amazement she found herself sitting in the command module of an Iczer Robo. She looked around in dismay, wondering how such a thing might be, when a voice in her head answered, and with a start she cried, "Iczer Sigma...?"

"Eh?" another-very different-voice responded to her outburst, "What was that you say?"

Her heart literally lurched in her chest as she reacted to that voice and cried, "Ken-san...you are alive?"

"Apparently," he said, "But there's...something in my head...it's talking to me...telling me not to panic. Do you think I should listen?"

"You hear it too?" Atros gripped her controls out of a need to find some stability as she said, "Ken-san...I thought you were dead..."

"Yeah, I'm kind of wondering about that too," Ken replied, "Only that voice is telling me that I'm being supported by this goop that I'm somehow breathing, and that it'll heal me up as good as new in next to no time..."

"You are in regeneration mode," Atros replied, "The Iczer Robo is your life support and it will automatically repair the damage you sustained in combat."

"That's great," he said, "Glad to hear that...only...what happened to Gel and Godai?"

"Ah..." Atros had to think a moment before she had an answer to that question, "Right outside...oh dear...I think they're preparing to attack us..."

"What do you think of this development, Brother?" Gel asked of Godai as the two of them surveyed the sight of the massive Iczer Robo unit.

"Offhand I'd say someone has been cheating," Godai replied, "Someone other than us, that is. I thought Atros's Iczer Robo had been destroyed in her last battle."

"Hai," Gel acknowledged, "Rather unsporting of them to give that failure another one to play with. Ah well...what say we raise the stakes a bit?"

"Just what I was thinking, Sister," Godai agreed, and together the both of them lifted their arms and cried together, "UNIT APOCULON-ACTIVATE!"

All at once the air was split with renewed thunder and through a void in space a new armored figure appeared, slightly larger than an Iczer Robo and far more menacing looking as Gel and Godai disappeared and re-emerged inside the units control cabins.

Atros stared in dismay at the new and improved Void-like giant Mecha, and then she murmured to her partner, "Ken-san...are you ready to renew battle?"

"Just tell me what to do, Beautiful, and I'll give it my best shot," he replied.

For some strange reason she found herself smiling, "Ready on my mark...let us see what my new other self can do. I just wonder if their unit is as good as my old Iczer Omega...I guess we will find out in another moment or two..."

"Right, just do me a favor," Ken requested.

"And what would that be?" Atros replied, still smiling.

"If you intend to blow yourself up this time, give me a warning so I can get out," he replied, "Better yet, give me enough time to take you with me..."

For the most incomprehensible reason imaginable Atros found herself laughing, feeling a lightness in her artificial soul that she had never known before while staring once again at death and knowing that she could face it with this human as her partner...

"Pinpoint gates still appearing all over the planet, Sir," a technician reported to a nervous Sepia, "We have reports of enemy activity in the suburbs of Tokyo, and energy signatures confirm that Iczers Five and Six are currently engaged in major battles."

"Dammit," Sepia swore, "And we're stuck here having to play defense to their offense. Tell Cobalt to be ready...there's no way that Gold is passing up on taking us out while our forces are stretched this thin, and with only passive systems and the remaining Third of our Iczelions at our disposal..."

"You worry too much, Darling," the voice of Force Leader Cobalt responded over the com-net, "If Gold's forces come they'll find us more than ready to greet them."

"And you don't worry enough about times like this," Sepia shot back to her wife and partner, "Stay alert and don't get cocky! We're depending on you to hold them off if they get through our peripheral defenses, and besides...it's your turn to make dinner."

"Well, I wouldn't want to miss my chance to make a good souffl for you, Darling," Gold smirked slyly, "I'll be sure to tell them nicely that they had better turn around and not mess with us or else they'll have to deal with you, a fate that I am sure would cow even a Venomoid, my Love."

"As Troi might say, damned straight," Sepia quirked a faint smile on her tightly held lips, "Just don't die out there this time or I'm going to the afterlife to drag you back."

"With such an ominous threat hanging over my head I am likely to live to be a thousand," Cobalt jested, "By the way...what is the status of all our other earthbound forces?"

"Well," Sepia frowned, "Iczers Atros and Nova are reportedly engaged in major battles..."

"But what of Muku and Rhea?" Cobalt asked.

"Ah...the Protector gave specific instructions that they were not to be disturbed unless absolutely necessary," Sepia replied somewhat lamely.

"I'd say the present crisis counts comes pretty close to meeting that description, don't you think?" her wife pointed out.

"Good point," Sepia said with a slight wince, "I just hate interrupting a pair of young lovers when they're..."

"Yes, I know," Cobalt replied, "I hate that as much as you do, but if we don't marshal all of our defenses then we're not likely to have a future."

Sepia nodded her head with a sigh and said, "Contact Rhea-chan through the privacy field currently on her quarters...and contact Unit Sixty-Nine just in case that doesn't work. No sense repeating past mistakes by forgetting to go through other channels...what?" she blinked, "What's that noise?"

"Sir!" one of the technicians in the command center reported, "Pinpoint gate opening up directly above our position, three kilometers above ground level! Something big is coming through!"

"Eh?" Sepia turned to a new tactical display showing a large spherical object appearing in the air above Tokyo city, and even as she started to ask the question, "What in the name of the Mother is..." something very significant happened...

"So, let me see if I got this straight," Ranma said to the two Tenmas sitting across from him in the restaurant, "There's an army of creeps coming here, and they're being sent by the same mega-creep whose behind the Old Ghoul's great-  
great grandkids getting kidnapped?"

"That's the size of it, Pop," one of the two Tenmas replied, "Gold's plan is to send a huge force to Earth to take everything over while she neutralizes the Iczers, who are the Earth's major defenders. I was just gathering intelligence for her when I...decided to switch sides...so I know that whatever she's gonna do here, it's gonna be big, so big that even you couldn't stop these guys if they came here to cause us trouble."

"Well, we'll just see about that," Ranma frowned, turning to the other Tenma and saying, "Sounds to me like you've been doing your own intelligence gathering, Son. That trick you're doing now...what did you call it?"

"No Puppetry, Pop," the other Tenma explained as he continued to juggle a number of his mother's throwing spatulas in the air while his mother looked on with a much-impressed expression, "It's kinda like telekinesis, but it involves moving around in subspace matter with your imagination. In fact in Subspace I can do stuff lots more impressive than this..."

"You don't say, Sugar?" Ukyo turned a look towards her husband, "It's a new one on me. Nobody in my family ever boasted about being able to move stuff like this...though I have heard about No Puppetry before. Some folks up in the country are supposed to know something about this...runs in the female half of a certain family, and they're alleged to be able to move dolls with their minds and make them perform without strings, just like this."

"Really?" Yuki asked as she turned to the Tenma whose arm she seemed to have become attached to of late, "Can you do this also, Ten-chan?"

"Huh?" her companion said, "Uh...yeah...I guess I could. I mean...it ain't that hard for Bioroids, y'know...we're designed for it...just never thought about using it like that before...kinda weird thinking about doing stuff like that for entertainment..."

"Then perhaps we should test your abilities to see if they match up with the formidable prowess that your original half has already mastered..." Cologne began to say when her tone fell off a note and she turned towards the door of the restaurant, "Someone is approaching...my great-great granddaughter, Perm."

Sure enough, seconds later a slightly out-of-breath Perm lurched in through the door with a frantic, "Great-Great Grandmother! We have trouble!"

"Mercy Child," Cologne turned to regard the purple haired heir to her family's art, "What has you looking this spooked? Did you run all this way from the mansion?"

"Great-Great Grandmother," Perm paused to bow to Ranma and Ukyo before stepping all the way past the threshold, "I felt Gel and Godai! My siblings have returned, but they are no longer the sibling I knew! They have been changed and are now more viscous, and I saw them attack poor Ken-san...I think they may have killed him!"

"WHAT?" everyone said at once in a rush, Cologne alone managing to maintain a level composure as she said, "You are certain of this, Child? They struck to kill young Tofu-san?"

"I could feel their intent to do him great harm, Elder," Perm assured her, "And they were shooting strange energy from their hands...it was not Chi, it was something else...something almost electric..."

"Then it's started," the doppelganger Tenma said grimly, "Big Gold took your brother and sister and she's warped 'em into monsters...she's altered their biochemistry and other junk like that. They'll be tough to deal with, and they ain't even all that human..."

"You're a fine one to talk about that," his counterpart glared at him, then said, "We gotta find Fiber...this is the kinda stuff she can fix. Where'd you see 'em fighting anyhow?"

"In a park not too far from here," Perm replied as she took notice that the room had one Tenma more than to what she was accustomed, "Ah...excuse me for asking this, but...?"

"No time for that now, Child," Cologne said briskly, "We must go to the park at once and..."

"Oh no!" the doppelganger Tenma reacted, eyes going wide as he turned and looked at the ceiling, "She wouldn't...we gotta get out of here, fast!"

"What's wrong, Ten-chan?" Ukyo asked, reflexively treating the boy as if she were his actual mother.

"No time to explain!" the doppelganger cried, concentrating his power as he immediately reached out and took Yuki by one hand then gripped his father's arm with the other, "Everybody get ready! We're going into Subspace, NOW!"

"What?" the other Tenma asked as the entire restaurant shifted to an oddly yellowish tinting, "Have you gone mental or something? What the hell are you...?"

"Listen," his counterpart said sharply, "You may have spent a month training with Fiber on how to manipulate Subspace, but I still know way lots more about Big Gold than you do, and right now I was feeling a major-league Pinpoint Warp Field directly over our heads. My best guess is that Big Gold's just dropped the big one on Nerima to try and get at the Iczers, and if I hadn't just done what I did we'd all be caught near to ground zero!"

"How's that again?" Ranma blinked.

"Are you saying she just tried to nuke us, Sugar?" Ukyo was appalled.

"I dunno what she just dropped, but it's gotta be bad!" the doppelganger replied, "And the only way to avoid being a casualty was to get the heck outta there. I just hope there's still a Nerima to come back to when this is all over."

"You saved us, Ten-chan," Yuki said, "But...what about my parents?"

"I dunno," the doppelganger turned to her, "I hope they're all right...maybe I'm just scared over nothing...like maybe she wants to take everybody alive and just wants to neutralize the barrier around the C'thuwulf city. All I know is it's better to be here than be there right now."

Perm was looking around at the restaurant, then turned and looked out the door before saying, "This is that other universe where we were before...when Muku-  
chan fought against that robot..."

"Evidently, Child," Cologne replied, "It would seem that we narrowly avoided a major crisis thanks to you, young man. You are to be commended for your quick thinking."

"Hey, there ain't nothing to be proud of," the doppelganger drooped his shoulders, "Just 'cause I used to work with the other side, and I sorta know how Big Gold thinks about stuff like this..."

"Nonetheless we owe you our hides, Son," Ranma clapped the boy on the shoulder, then looked at the original copy of his son and said, "You know this place better than the rest of us combined, Son...think you can negotiate a way out of here?"

"Hey, does a Hibiki need a seeing eye dog?" Tenma quipped as he flashed his father a confident smirk, "Leave it up to me, I know just where to go, and if you wanna get to that park and see if anybody's still alive or stuff, then I'm your guy."

"Then lead the way, Sugar," Ukyo urged, slinging her spatula over her shoulder, "Let's go and see if somebody hurt Sakura's iinazuke, and if that Gel really is to blame...apologies to you, Perm-chan, but it sounds like she deserves a major spanking."

"No apologies necessary, Auntie," Perm assured her, "I only hope it is not too late for us to make a difference..."

"Whoah!" Muku heaved a massive sigh as she lay back on the bed panting hard from her latest exertions, "Didn't know you could do that when you came, Rhea-  
chan...I'd swear the Earth moved, and you were the one that came that time..."

"Oh...yes indeed," Rhea purred, feeling as happy and contented as a cat who had just had her belly rubbed by an expert. She linked fingers with her lover and smiled at her with a contented feeling that they were now of one mind and resonance, "You were wonderful, Muku-chan...that was very...satisfying..."

"Heh, I had a good teacher," Muku chuckled softly, then turned her head and glanced around, "Sorry to say...I think we made a mess of your room..."

"No doubt I'm going to have to clean it up," Rhea agreed as she took notice of the way the furniture had been moved along with smaller, easier to move objects, "But I think that my mothers will understand...it was all in a good cause..."

"So...what do we do next?" Muku asked as she turned a smile upon the beautiful naked girl laying beside her.

"We take a short breather," Rhea said with a completely candid expression, "And then we go at it again, and I'll show you some new techniques that you will find most...stimulating."

"What, again?" Muku blinked, "Are you kidding?"

"Not in the least," Rhea sighed, "Now that I finally have you with me, I find myself reluctant to see this lesson prematurely ended."

"Hey, I'm not complaining or anything," Muku replied, "But what do you call what we've been doing for the past hour and a half?"

"Foreplay," Rhea smiled, "What is the matter, Muku-chan, are you growing tired of me already?"

"You know better than that," Muku said with total seriousness in her expression, "You're the most incredible person I've ever met, and I'm so glad we finally got to do this without being interrupted. It's just that I thought maybe we could go out somewhere and grab a burger or something...I'd be happy to treat."

"You mean like a date?" Rhea asked.

"Uh...yeah...I guess you could call it that," Muku replied.

"I thought the normal course of things was that the date was supposed to precede the lovemaking," Rhea quipped with a slightly facetious tone in her expression, "But I am...pleased with matters so far, and I find that I could stand to refuel myself before we renew our pleasures. Perhaps you might care for some okonomiyaki if I am the one to treat you for a change?"

"What...you mean...go by Sakura's place?" Muku blinked.

Rhea nodded, "I find that I am...curiously...in her debt for the wise counsel that she gave you. I have seen in your memories that she cares for you almost as much as I do...and...I cannot help but feel that I came between the both of you...that I owe her some form of compensation...and perhaps...I should not be so jealous of the bonds that exist between you..."

"Jealous?" Muku repeated, "You?"

"I am far from a saint when it comes to you, Muku-chan," Rhea replied, "My desires in regards to you would be...selfish and possessive. I was aware that you had a history with your friends to which I was not previously a part, and...and now I want to share your life entirely. I want to be a part of the close circle of life that revolves around you...and besides...Sakura is partnered with my Aunt, and Yui is partnered with one of my sisters...and...Ken-  
san..."

"Still nervous around him?" Muku smiled, "You shouldn't be...he doesn't bite...at least I think he doesn't."

"I am sorry," Rhea replied, "It is still...awkward for me to think about ...men the same as I do about women...but I am trying..."

All at once the room shook violently, as if something had just struck the whole building, and for a moment the two young girls lay where they were staring in dismay at the ceiling. Then at last Muku asked, "Ah...honey...that wasn't you this time, was it?"

"No," Rhea sat upright, "That was the privacy barrier this time...something was affecting the isolation field, but..."

All at once Iczel Unit 69 phased into the room and cried out, "Mistress! You must come at once! New Gamora is under attack and we need both you and your Iczer-Robo!"

There was a momentary silence before both girls sat up on the bed and chorused together, "NANI-?"

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Citations: shadowmane

The War shifts into high gear as Muku and Rhea enter the field of battle, but who else is waiting in the wings, and what is Iczer Two planning in her assault on Big Gold's otherworld fortress? Fine out next time in: "Storming the Gates," or , "Abandon Soap Ye Who Enter Here!" Be there!

X -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	39. Chapter 39

Earthchild39

The Earthchild

(An Iczer/Ranma/Sailor Moon Crossover)

by Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi,  
Naoko Takeuchi, Toshihiro Hirano,  
&amp; Hitoshi Okuda, with ideas and suggestions by TH Tiger and Johannes Huber)

Chapter Thirty-Nine.

Sakura gave a savage cry as she slashed out with her Iczer Robo's giant spatula and swatted away a cloud full of enemy troops, smashing them with such great force that many of the Voids and Geos spontaneously exploded as their power cells detonated upon impact. The flames of their demise caught many of the Venomoids by surprise and burned them to fiery cinders as the humongously ponderous baker's peel slashed again and again in a deadly arc that wove through their ranks like a scythe blade, scattering many other of their number like blown leaves in all directions.

The forces of Big Gold rallied to counter-attack as the Venomoids linked their bodies into a whipping coil that sought to snare and wind around the giant spatula, but Iczer Delta's hide flared and shot a wave of purifying flames down its iron length and reduced these parasites to their constituent atoms. In angry retaliation the giant Mecha lifted an arm and revealed powerful energy cannons built into its length, and with a sweeping brush of flame sent more Bioroids and enemy Mecha to the biological scrap heap, leaving the rest of their number swarming around in disorganized confusion.

"YOU FOOLS!" cried a Bioroid servant of Gold code-named Fire, "You're letting her slaughter you! Form up in ranks and destroy that Mecha! Death to the Iczers! Death to all C'thuwulf and Humans!"

"What's her problem?" Troi wondered aloud, "You're doing good there, Honey, but I think this might be a good time to pull back and regroup with the rest of our forces..."

"No!" Sakura declared decisively, "I know what I'm doing...let's keep this up a big longer so we get these monsters good and angry!"

"Angry?" Troi blinked in reply, "You mean...really stir up the hornet's next? Heck, I could do that! Here, let's pool resources and I'll show you how we Iczers do it..."

With that she mentally linked with her partner and gave Sakura a full range of options for how to effectively use their giant Mecha to good effect, at which point Iczer Delta let loose with a whip-shot of fire-bursts that lanced though the enemy forces and rent further damage to their numbers, at which point Fire lost her temper and cried, "THAT"S IT! THOSE TWO ARE DEAD! CONCENTRATE ALL FIRE TO EXTERMINATING THAT ICZER!"

"What are they doing?" Nagisa asked, "Shouldn't we move in their and support them?"

"Negative," Iczer One replied, "Iczer Delta is taking the heat off of our forces. We're just beginning to get our ranks back into a semblance of order, and we've taken some heavy hits to our Iczelion forces. Besides, I want to take more time to study the tactics Troi's partner is using...there is something familiar about that pattern..."

"Protector," Iczelion Corps Wing Commander Amber called in over their personal com-net, "Is this wise? All by herself your sister and her Iczer Robo will be overwhelmed by that large a force of enemy forces..."

"Not necessarily, Commander," Iczer One replied, staring at the wave upon wave of Geos and Voids hurling savage energy blasts at the retreating Iczer Delta, even as swarms of Venomoids tried to mill about and attack it like a buzzing tide of hornets, "Hold your people in position...wait for my command before anyone takes action."

"Understood," Amber replied, frowning slightly as she added, "What is she doing? It's like they're chasing her in a giant circle..."

"A circle?" Nagisa blinked.

"No...not a circle," Iczer One gave a start as she finally recognized the pattern, "It's a Spiral! Wing Commander, have our forces stand by to unleash their combined firepower on my command! Form a parabolic semi-circle, maximum dispersion!"

"Acknowledged, Protector," Amber grimly nodded, "All wings form up...you heard the lady! Heat your burners up, we're about to scorch some Venomoid Gold Trash!"

"You fools, catch her!" Fire commanded as her forces failed again and again to close in upon the elusive Iczer-Robo, "I don't care how big it is, we outnumber them by the tens of thousands! Destroy that Iczer and the rest will be easy prey!"

"That's what you think, lady!" Troi called back in her best taunting tone of voice, "Okay, Honey-Pie, they're pissed! Whatever you've got planned, better get down too it soon!"

"Don't worry," Sakura said with a tone that dripped like ice with an edge that was as chilling as Hoarfrost, "I know exactly what I'm doing...this is one of my Pop's favorite maneuvers."

"Huh?" Troi reacted with a start, "Outer hull temperature dropping...you're shutting down exterior defense screens...creating a localized reverse cold field...what...?"

"Watch and learn," Sakura replied, "We're almost near the center of the circle."

Troi blinked again, then she gave a start, "You've got to be kidding me! You don't mean...?"

"NOW!" Fire shouted, "YOU ALMOST HAVE HER CONTAINED, YOU FOOLS! DON'T LET HER ESCAPE! STRIKE NOW AND FINISH HER! SHE HAS NO WHERE ELSE TO RUN!"

"I don't need anywhere to run," Sakura remarked with deceptive calm in her voice, "You Bastards are history! HIIIRRRYYYOOO-!"

"Here it comes!" Iczer One cried, "EVERYONE-BRACE FOR IT!"

"-SHOOOTAAAANNNN-!" Sakura stretched the word out even as Troi sensed her intentions and felt their Iczer Robo ball a fist while reaching the point at the very center, and all at once she threw that fist forward and cried, "HHHHAAAAAA!"

All at once the very air exploded all around them, a force not unlike a massive shockwave radiating out from the center as that massive fist swung skyward, creating an instant hurricane that caught everything within a hundred meters radius and tossed it about in a furious explosion of sound and energy that looked like a mushroom cloud forming from the position where Iczer Alpha and the Iczelions hovered in waiting. For a moment everything around Iczer Delta was obscured by the formation of a funnel-shaped torrent that tossed Geos and Voids about like specks of dust within its spiral, the Venomoids finding themselves sucked into the center with no chance of escape as everything went skyward into a concentrated mass of living and Biosculpted matter.

"NO!" Fire cried as she found herself drawn into the vortex with the rest of her forces, and immediately she reinforced her defensive shields as she was drawn into the eye of the swirling madness.

Even from where they watched in dismay the Iczelions felt the fury of those winds and had to fight to maintain their formation. Even as they reformed their ranks the call came out from their supreme leader, "ALL UNITS-OPEN FIRE! LET THEM HAVE EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT, WARRIORS OF THE C'THUWULF AND TERRA!"

"You heard the Protector!" Amber barked, "BURN THEM!"

With that the Iczelions let loose with a firestorm of concentrated energy bursts, picking targets at random and shooting blindly into the spiral itself, the enemy massed to tightly together that they could hardly avoid hitting something, even as Iczer Alpha summoned a fireball of concentrated Iczerio force, Iczer One calling to Nagisa, "Give me all you have, darling! We're taking them out!"

"FULL POWER!" Nagisa cried, releasing her pent up fury and outrage at all the evil these creature represented, the lives lost to their foul embrace and the horrible creature that had created them as an expression of her own evil.

The ball of force flew from Iczer Alpha's massive hands and detonated at the very center of the spiral, exploding it with a force unimaginable and disrupting the spiral itself, even as the Iczelions continued to pour it on at any speck or particle they saw moving around the edges.

After another minute or two, Wing Commander Amber called out, "Cease fire! Hold up and wait for it, Ladies! Let's see what's left of the enemy before we use up any more Bio-energy!"

"A wise move, Commander," Iczer Two remarked as she felt slightly winced and mildly exhausted by her own exertions, "What about you, Darling?"

"I'm all right," Nagisa panted, "Just a little winded...that sure took a lot out of the both of us...but...what about Troi?"

Iczer One waited until the waves of plasma and falling ash cleared enough for a towering form to be discerned at the very center of the holocaust. Everyone else held their breath and waited, prepared to renew their onslaught if the enemy forces proved intact enough to continue to prove to be a problem...

To their collective amazement only Troi's Iczer Robo remained standing, unscathed and unbowed. There was not a single living thing to be discerned in the space all around her, not even dust remaining upon the scorched earth near the epicenter, the entire battlefield being swept clean of enemy forces.

"I'm not even picking up bacteria," Nagisa reported as she her own survey using Iczer Alpha's powerful sensors, "No trace of Venomoid DNA, not even Void or Geo matter...not in the area, and no where near to Troi's position."

"I think we got them," Amber remarked in a disquieted tone of voice, sound both awed and appalled at the thoroughness with which their own forces had done their bloody work.

"And Troi?" Iczer One spoke up, "Are you well, Sister?"

"Oh, yeah," Troi replied in tones that demonstrated just how impressed she was to have survived such a maelstrom unscathed, "You did it, Honey...you whipped their tails but good."

"Never underestimate a Saotome," Sakura said with grim resolve, "The moment you do is when we come back hitting the hardest."

"Yeah...so I noticed," Troi said dryly, "Do me a favor, huh, and remind me never to get you angry."

"We took them all out with just one fireburst?" asked one of the Unit Commanders reporting in a tone that seemed to reflect the general consensus of mingled relief and dismay at their own achievement.

"Apparently," Amber replied, "What are you new orders, Protector?"

"Casualties first," Iczer One steeled herself, "How badly were we hit before the end there?"

Amber referred to her Iczelion Unit then reported back, "Bad enough...seventeen casualties...nine fatalities, eight Iczelions hit bad enough to need immediate hospitalization."

"That leaves seventy-nine Iczelions fully functional and ready for action," Nagisa calculated, "With a little rest and a month of R&amp;R we ought to be ready for anything...at least...if that's the worst that Big Gold has to throw against us."

"As much as I would like to give everyone here a well-deserved vacation," Iczer One replied, "We still have about as many as these enemy forces remaining who didn't come over into the containment field, and for all we know those monsters are still laying siege to the Worldship. That means we have to break out of here and get back to normal space."

"That won't be easy," Nagisa cautioned, "If Big Gold is using field generators, then we may be trapped on this side until someone on the other side either turns them off or destroys them."

"Tough call," Troi remarked, "And while we're stuck here Big Gold is probably wrecking havoc on the earth, to say nothing of what she'll be doing to our people."

"If only we had something to hit," Amber complained, "With as much Bio-energy as we have remaining in our reserves, if we could focus it on one point of the field..."

"It would have to be a pretty precise hit in just the right place to send a feedback wave that could take out those generators," Nagisa cautioned.

"A precise hit, huh?" Sakura stared around then smiled, "How about a spatula in the right place? I'm detecting an energy pattern...and I think I know just how to do it."

"Honey," Troi said, "You just pulled one major miracle for the day, don't exhaust yourself trying to impress us with another."

"I'm not staying here while more of those monsters threaten my family and planet," Sakura growled, "Are you with me?"

"Hey, you know I'd walk through fire for you, Honey-cakes," Troi replied, "But are you sure you're up to it?"

"Just watch me," Sakura replied as she mentally imagined herself holding her baker's peel in both hands, relaxing as her senses expanded outward like with the Bakusei Tenketsu technique, even as the Iczer Robo she was linked to copied the gesture, magnifying the power of her senses to where there was no distinction between them where the human ended and the giant living Mecha began.

"What is she doing?" Amber asked in awed wonder at the Terran girl who was partnered with an Iczer.

"Wait and see, Commander," Iczer One smiled softly, "One miracle to order is about to be delivered."

"But can she really pull it off?" Nagisa asked, "For all we know that barrier could be Saotome-proof..."

"Nothing is Saotome-proof!" Sakura calmly declared, sensing the moment on hand as she saw the swirling patterns of energy concentrate at a point where her own Dragon Spiral Punch had caused a weakening in the field, and with her target pin-pointed she lifted her hands on high as Iczer Delta copied the gesture with the massive spatula in hands, and then she brought it forward in one dramatic gesture, bringing all she had to the shatter-point with a loud declaration, "BAKUSEI TENKETSU-!"

Neos Gold was not having a good day, and had anyone been fool enough to ask her about that she would have blasted them into cinders. The tide of battle had not gone the way that she had planned, nor were her forces faring as well as she would have boasted had she anticipated the stiff resistance that her Voids, Venomoids and Geos were encountering at the hands of those merely human pilots manning those primitive-looking craft rising up from the lunar surface.

Even before the Eagle and Hawk wings of Moonbase Alpha closed the range between the lunar surface and the C'thuwulf Worldship they were already launching long-  
range missile-fire that dispersed in a wide pattern and began exploding within range of the outward edge of Neos's forces. The warheads, armed Neutron warheads whose effect could be felt for miles in all directions, doing damage to everything organic with which the concentrated Neutrons came in contact, a diabolically vicious weapon to be employed against organically-based matter, especially in light of the damage already caused by lunar-based Pulse Cannon fire, clearing the way far ahead of the Human attackers as they drove in like a wedge aimed straight at the heart of Neos Gold and her forces. Moving at close to a hundred thousand Kilometers an hour and flown with perfect precision and control of their inertia, the human-commanded ships began raking their targets with impunity, their energy bursts ripping a very large hole through the outer rim of the Gold Armada and throwing the Venomoids into further confusion.

But Neos was far from without resources of her own and ordered her Geos to erect a force barrier that blunted the attack and caused several ships in the first wave to break off their attack, having to blast their way back out from the rim as Voids converged on the valiant fighters and began returning fire with even less restraint and mercy. At this point the singular weakness of the Terran-  
produced hybrid craft was made apparent as they were far less maneuverable than the Voids as they had to contend with the vectoring forces of momentum and inertia.

"Gold Leader, I've been hit-!" came the choked cry of his wingman as Colonel Foster winced and tried to hold the rest of his line together, pounding furiously at anything that came within attack radius of his Eagle.

"Wedge, we lost Biggs," came the cry from somewhere off his port nasal, even as Foster became aware of how many of his ships were falling prey to the Voids while he kept his eye out for those Venomoid monsters.

"Stay on target, Lucas!" Foster called out to the lesser Wing Commander, "Alpha Base, we are taking hits out here! Almost to the outer edge of the attack force, need more suppressing fire in sector Thirty-Three-Six-Alpha..."

"Eagle Wing, you are nearly clear of the center," came Commander Koenig's reply, "Hawks and Eagles clear the area...we're going to let them have both barrels this time."

"What the heck does that mean?" asked another of Foster's pilots.

"It means we'll catch hell if we lag around here too much longer," Foster replied, "Yajin, get your Hawks clear of the fire-zone...it's about to get hotter."

"Don't need to tell me that twice, Colonel-san," responded a distinctly male Japanese voice, "If I know my former Captain, these guys won't even know what hit them."

"RUN, YOU COWARDS, RUN!" Neos snarled as she watched the humans break off their attack and limp clear of her forces with their tails between their proverbial legs, "But I won't let you escape! Every one of you is dead! I will personally see to it that you-WHAT IS THAT?"

It had belatedly occurred to her that one star on the virtual horizon had suddenly grown a lot brighter than the others, and then with a jolt she recognized the energy wave that was swelling like a solar flare and about to strike home upon her very position...

"Dead on target, Captain," Lieutenant Avocado reported, "I'll bet even Neos felt that one down to her roots."

"Let's just hope we took some of the heat off our own forces," Candy replied with a grim smile, "Though I'd be less than honest if I didn't confess that I'd pay good money to see her face when she realizes that we've just joined the battle."

"Just like old times," Rob mused, "And with our rebuilt Queen Fuji it's time we paid some much-deserved payback."

"Captain," one of the technicians at the Helm looked up with a look of surprise, "We're picking up signs of a contact point off to the starboard bow...distance one-one-one-seven-six, almost right on top of the enemy position!"

"Reinforcements?" Candy asked.

"No," the Helm officer replied, her face breaking out with a wide grin, "Iczers!"

"Well, what do you know," Rob mused, "There is a God after all..."

"Yes, and she's probably part C'thuwulf," Candy mused with irreverent humor...

Neos recoiled from the blast that swept through her forces like a blow torch through ice, unable to believe that the humans could have mounted such a weapon against the horde which she commanded. Her own personal defense screens had held up against the flare of plasma that had burned lesser Voids to cinders, but as scorched as she felt along the edges she was less deterred than wrathful, more determined than ever to crush these miserable humans under heel.

"So...they've dared to arm these humans with toys this powerful, have they?" Neos glared, "But such a force must drain their reserves considerably, which means that they should easily fall prey to a massed counter-offensive. On my command, all units converge and-!"

"Neos-sama!" a pitiful voice croaked out, causing Neos to turn and see a body tumbling through the void, and with a jolt she recognized the half-singed form as belonging to the Bioroid named Fire.

"What?" Neos was not normally inclined to be concerned about the welfare of even a soldier under her command, but the sight of this damaged unit caused her to blanch beneath her mask and say, "What has happened to you? What has become of your forces?"

"All gone," Fire replied as she tumbled helplessly near to Neos's position, "I'm the last...I alone survived...barely..."

"What are you talking about?" Neos demanded, "You cannot have failed! You had them contained and outnumbered! How could you be defeated?"

Fire did not answer, having already moved too far past Neos to spare even telepathic contact, but all at once her body shimmered and she vanished from empty space, and Neos somehow sensed that she had not done so under her own power. She was still trying to make sense of it all when she felt the electrostatic tension in the space surrounding her increase tenfold. In dismay she turned to see the very fabric of the void itself shatter like glass before her eyes, and several field generators spontaneously exploding.

Through the resulting hole that appeared before her eyes the sight of the Iczers pouring forth was about the final straw for Neos. Dismay and disbelief made her hesitate a few moments longer before she realized the game was up and the cause was hopeless. With Iczers One and Three arriving with a fully functioning wing of the Iczelion Corps to support them there was little that her disarrayed forces could do but die as the Iczers selected targets and immediately started firing at everything in their path. Voids and Venomoids died swiftly all around her as Geos were helpless to erect sufficient force to repel the onslaught, and with the handwriting writ large on the proverbial war Neos took the course of least discretion and teleported the hell away from there, leaving her servants to face the brunt of C'thuwulf and human wrath as the Armada of Big Gold was soon reduced to charred DNA fragments...

Fire opened her tired eyes, wondering if she were dreaming as the final embers of her life began to sputter and flicker out. In amazement she found herself looking up into her own reflection, a face staring down at her with great sorrow and compassion.

"Who...?" she gasped.

"Don't try to talk," her counterpart replied, "Save your strength...you're among friends now."

Despite her weakness Fire felt her lips curl up in a weak sneer of condescension, "Friends...I have no friends...I had them once...but they...all died..."

"No they didn't," her counterpart tried to reassure her, "See? Your friends are all here. You don't have to be alone anymore..."

Fire saw the starlight sparkling in the eyes and upon the cheeks of her counterpart and said, "Tears...I wept so many...once...long ago..."

"How did this happen to you?" a familiar voice asked her.

Fire found her eyes moving almost against her will to see a ghost looming over her, a hauntingly familiar face that brought her to tears as she had never hoped to ever again to see this side of the grave.

"U-Usagi-chan...?" she asked weakly, "It...can't be you..."

"It's me," the blonde beauty replied with tears in her own eyes, "I'm here, Rei-  
chan...you don't need to be alone anymore."

"I'm glad..." Fire felt her body shudder as her artificially recreated body began to shut down and she closed her eyes saying, "I...ve...missed you...riceball...head..."

And then a final shudder, and with a last sighing breath she sagged in the arms of Lady Mars, and moments later her body dissolved into radiant light and was dispersed into randomized particles, leaving the observant Senshi to stare in solemn respect of her passing.

No ventured to speak for several lingering moments, but then Lady Pluto remarked, "She...just gave up...she's returned to the stars and planets from which we all were born."

"Who was she really?" Lady Uranus asked.

"A poor, lost soul trapped up by events beyond her understanding," Lady Neptune replied, "Her world's counterpart of Mars, obviously conscripted into a war as a soldier to the very evil we are facing."

"They did that to her," Lady Jupiter balled her fists in outrage, "The Stars only know what they did to the rest of us..."

"It's like watching our Mars leaving us," Lady Venus remarked.

"Exactly what would have been had the world she come from been the world that we live in," Lady Mercury reasoned.

Lady Mars looked up to see the expression of Neo-Queen Usagi, and what sadness and outrage she felt seemed to pale to insignificance compared to the emotions which she read in the face of her radiant sovereign. Usagi turned away with grief hardening to holy rage as she said somberly, "The one who did this to her...she is our enemy. I cannot forgive such evil...and who knows how many others she had victimized? This has to end now...and by all that is holy, we will bring an end to this evil."

She held up the moon-scepter that was the symbol of her power, the means by which she had sensed and summoned the dying Rei to the Crystal Palace. As she gazed upon her scepter the light of the Imperium Silver Crystal began pulsing on her pendant, and with the cleansing light of renewed determination she cast her gaze into the heavens, and her loyal Senshi fell into line, linking hands in a circle around their Queen while calling upon the Planet Power that was their sacred birthright...

Sir Violet stared in wonder and disbelief, feeling a religious moment sweeping through her as she watched victory being snatched from the jaws of certain defeat. The reappearance of the Iczers and Iczelions was like a benediction from the Goddess, and the realization that self-destruction was no longer necessary made her regret her lack of faith and willingness to once again surrender before despair and uncertainty. In gratitude she turned her face to the Cosmos and said, "Thank you, Great Mother, your daughters give you homage for this gift of life which you have once again bestowed upon us."

"Mother of us all!" Sister Emerald spoke up from her com-station, "We are being hailed...there is someone who wishes to speak with us directly."

"By all means," Sir Violet nodded, "Let us greet our victorious sisters."

"It's not the Protector, Holy Mother," Emerald replied, giving Sir Violet a curious look as she added, "She says that her name is...Neo-Queen Serenity?"

"Eh?" Sir Violet asked, then looked up to see a face appearing in mid-air whose beauty could well be inspired by the Goddess. There was a holy radiance surrounding her that befit her name as the ageless visage implied a loving heart and a gentle temper. There was a crown around her head...and unless Sir Violet was imagining things, this woman appeared to have...wings...like the living embodiment of what humans would call an Angel.

"Am I speaking with the leader of the race known as C'thuwulf?" the golden-  
haired lovely inquired.

"I am Sir Violet," she replied, "Mother of us all and Spiritual leader of the C'thuwulf. An who are you?"

"You may call me Serenity," the beauty replied, "But my friends know me as Usagi."

"You friends call you...Rabbit?" Sir Violet asked in mild confusion.

"My friends...sometimes call me a lot of other things besides that, true," the woman gave a lopsided smile, "But I suppose 'Moon Bunny' is the least of those. We need to talk, you and I, about our past...and about our future."

"Certainly," Sir Violet agreed, intrigued by the woman and whatever divine power she embodied, "We are in the midst of a crisis, though..."

"Yes, so I have been made to believe," the blonde replied, "Bear with me, then. As a gesture of good faith, I wish to give a demonstration of my intent towards future friendship."

"Holy Mother!" Sister Maroon reported from her own monitoring position, "We are detecting an energy surge coming from the surface of the moon..."

"An energy surge?" Emerald replied, "From what sector?"

"It's not coming from the human base," Maroon replied, her expression incredulous, "It's coming from the sector known as Mare Azure...the Blue Area of the Moon!"

"What?" Sir Violet exclaimed, having some vague idea of just how significant a revelation this could be, even as she saw a tactical display of the moon where the energy pulse had been located...rising up to form a radiant silver light that lanced out from the surface of the lunar body and arced past the Worldship on an unerring course aimed straight at planet Earth itself, arching towards the Terran motherworld with the unerring aim of a speeding comet...

Yui-both versions of her-cried out in mutual fury as one twin flexed her armored muscles and caused a fiery aura to surround her body, burning the plant vines grasping her to cinders in the space of a mere second. The other Yui did the same to the carbonized shell surrounding her, expanding the air so rapidly that it was a snap to shatter her graphite casing so that she could breathe clean air once again (albeit faintly tinged with the scent of Ozone).

The force they used to liberate themselves channeled itself into the ice-encased Nova, whose armor started pulsing and revived the Bioroid from the near-  
hybernative state that she had fallen into. With a cry of her own she flexed her arms and shattered the ice-block, freeing herself with a few sharp kicks that dislodged the fragments that had pinned her legs to the tarmac.

"Impressive," said Vine, "I didn't think you would have the strength to do that..."

"...You might yet prove more interesting as a foe than I had expected," noted Carbon.

"Not that it will affect the outcome in the slightest," further noted Ice.

"You guys are so dead!" Nova growled as she shook off the last shiver of cold that was affecting her systems.

"That remains to be seen," Jetstream coolly observed, "You have yet to face our full might..."

"So?" one Yui asked.

"You haven't even begun to taste ours!" the other Yui boasted.

More vines sprang up from the ground at a gesture from the Bioroid that bore that name, but the twin Yuis were quick this time to employ the combat potential of their Iczelion armor to magnify their own Senshi abilities as flame attacks fried those plants before they could close upon their targets.

Nova was quick to retaliate, but her attempt to close upon the enemy quartet ran head-on up against a barrier composed entirely of carbon graphite particles that hardened into a wall that even her fist found difficult to penetrate. Rather than be discouraged, however, Nova summoned up her beam sabers and slashed her way through the partition, only to run head-on into a hurricane-force blast summoned up by Jetstream, which caught and threw her back ward, even as Ice hurled a shower of deadly icicles with force enough to do real damage if Nova had not proven quick enough in teleporting out of the way.

"No fair, you Creeps!" Nova declared as she appeared directly behind the trio that had been holding her at bay, but again her beam saber-attack was blunted by a wall of ice that flared up in her path, leaving Nova to exclaim, "Three against one! That ain't very sporting!"

"What do you care?" Carbon asked as she caused a wave of carbon particles to coil about and wrap its mass about Nova's body, pinning her arms to her sides as those particles hardened up to a consistency far stronger than Iron, "Before you turned traitor you never cared about being sporting."

Nova's struggles to free herself sent an empathic shockwave through both versions of Yui. They turned without questioning the impulse and rocketed to her aid, only to be met by another shower of hailstones conjured up by Ice and Jetstream, but even this deadly shower did not deter them as the two Yuis reacted instinctively and triggered a special attachment built into their distinctive Iczelion armor.

Twin umbrellas deployed and unfolded to meet and deflect the shower of bullets threatening to halt them in their tracks, and with consummate skill they whirled their unorthodox weapons to clear the path ahead of them, not even deterred by the wind resistance afforded by their whirling surfaces.

But before they could close on the quartet the one named Vine sprang yet another surprise, causing the ground itself to rise up at a gesture. Both Yuis halted in mid-flight with matching looks of dismay as before their very eyes a gaping maw appeared, shaped vaguely like an enormous flower but with jaws brimming with thorns that gave them the appearance of wicked teeth. Their very momentum worked against them as they sought to avoid this trap, but it was too late as the plant moved with a speed far greater than ordinary vegetation, closing upon them while releasing a cloud of spores upon its victims.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" Nova cried as she fought for breath and to free her arms from their constraint, "Yui belongs to me! You can't have her!"

"I think differently," Ice replied, freezing the air around Nova's head and effectively gagging her, "Your friend is plant food, and you are so much obsolete scrap-eh?"

To their surprise the ice began to crack, and the carbon fibers binding the Bioroid started to bulge outward as the cherry-haired Nova exerted unbelievable pressure in an attempt at freeing herself from her makeshift prison.

"I-WON'T-LET-YOU-HARM-MY-YUI!" Nova snarled as she tossed her head and freed herself entirely of the ice.

"She has that much power?" Vine asked in dismay.

"Incredible," Jetstream remarked, "You would almost think that she was about to free herself from your grip, Carbon."

"No way," the ebony haired and armored woman snarled, "Let's see how she likes it when I condense those fibers to their crystalline state, then we'll know if she can crack her way out of Diamond..."

All at once Vine cried out in pain as she recoiled from the feedback of her plant-monster, which even then had burst into flames from within, disgorging the forms of the twin Yuis, who were once again wielding their beam-sabers.

"Nice try, Assholes!" one Yui exclaimed, "But you little gas trick didn't work!"

"Our armor filters out your spores," the other Yui added, "We just needed to catch a breather so we could give your weed a case of terminal indigestion!"

"Yui-chan?" Nova said with a weak smile of approval, "Way to go...Honey..."

"Oh silence," Carbon grit her teeth and made a fist, "You have only seconds to live anyway, and though you may be artificial, you're a Carbon-based life-form, just like any human, and once I crush your futile resistance I'll reduce you to your constituent atoms."

"Oh shut the hell up, will you!" one Yui extended her umbrella again and caused it to whirl at great speed, and all at once a number of Ofudo strips began whirling out to pelt the black-armored woman, forcing Carbon to lose her concentration long enough for Nova to burst loose from her containment.

Ice threw up another barrier and Jetstream scattered the remaining Ofudos, but the harm had been done and the Iczer was free to teleport to the side of the two Yuis. Vine recovered her bearings and glared hatefully up at the trio, her eyes blazing with wrath as she declared, "FOR THAT YOU WILL SUFFER LIKE YOU HAVE NEVER SEEN SUFFERING! NO MERCY FOR YOU, HUMANS, NO MERCY!"

"Sheesh," one Yui remarked, "Who writes their dialogue? I haven't heard anything that corny this side of a Bandai show!"

"Are you still in one piece?" the other Yui asked of Nova, though the tone she used was meant to convey less concern than was plain in her expression.

"Yeah...I'm all right...just kind of cracked a few ribs there, nothing I can't handle," Nova rather weakly boasted, seeming pail and unsteady as she tried to remain airborne, "But what about you guys? For a few seconds there I thought you were gonna be smothered!"

"Well, we did kind of have a few rough moments there in the beginning," the other Yui admitted.

"But somebody kept yelling so loud that we couldn't get any sleep if we'd wanted to let go," the other Yui revealed, turning back to the quartet of evil, "So...what's the plan here? How do we take these mega-creeps?"

"You're asking me?" Nova smiled a bit weakly, "Damn...if I only had my Iczer Robo..." all at once her eyes went wide, "That's it! I can feel it! Get ready for it, Guys, I'm summoning it up now!"

"WHAT?" both Yuis declared in alarm, But...!"

Nova crossed her arms before her chest then threw her arms wide and cried, "ICZER DELOS GAMMA-COME FORTH!"

And then the air was split as a tremendous crack of thunder, heralding a sudden void that appeared in the sky over their heads...and then out from the void stepped a massively armored form that loomed large over everything. The twin Yuis gaped in mute dismay at seeing the thing once again, their memories still fresh to the ordeal that they had endured the last time the giant robot had been on the loose in Nerima.

No sooner did it appear then Nova triggered the recall function and was absorbed into the towering construct, at which point both of the Yuis gave a yelp as they were absorbed into the other partner of the Bioroid whom they reluctantly acknowledged was their partner.

A moment later one Yui awoke to find herself floating inside the massive fishbowl that was the chest capsule while the other found herself in a very different place, sitting across Nova's lap and totally stark naked!

"What the...?" this Yui gasped as Nova opened her eyes, gave a start, then grinned wide as she found the woman she loved was near to hand...in fact, so near at hand that she just had to touch her to make sure she was not hallucinating.

"Yui-chan!" she declared in delight as she hugged her partner to her, "Oooh...I like this a lot! I get to have you both ways now, isn't that terrific?"

"Hey, let go!" Yui pleaded as Nova's hands automatically started to feel her up, "This is no time for-hey, quit that! Don't do-OOOOOOOHHHH-that!"

"Huh?" the other Yui glanced upward with a cross expression, "Hey, what are you guys doing up there? I...OOOOHHH!" she similarly reacted as the Iczer Robo interpreted her statement as an inquiry and mentally linked her up to the activities presently going on in the upper cockpit.

Vine studied the exterior of the Delos Gamma then remarked, "Impressive...but size is not everything."

"Quite true," Carbon agreed, "It is what you do with it that counts."

"Why do they just stand there without attacking us?" Ice wondered aloud.

"Perhaps that Nova is more badly damaged than she let on just now," Jetstream mused, "Perhaps this tactic is more bluff than a serious challenge..."

"You wish you-OUCH-OHH_OOOHH_OOOHH!" Nova gasped as she ceased fondling the Yui on her lap, causing the girl she had been presently molesting to turn a concerned look in her direction.

"Are you all right?" both Yuis asked.

"Heh...think maybe I'm a little more busted up inside than I thought," Nova winced with a weak smile upon her features, "Sorry, Honey-bunch, but I guess this will have to wait until after we're done teaching those creeps a lesson..."

"What's wrong with her?" the Yui in the chest capsule asked her counterpart, who could hear her as plainly as if they were standing right next to one another thanks to the relay-network incorporated into the very structure of the Iczer-  
Robo.

That Yui so addressed gently ran her hands over Nova's body, pressing lightly against those parts less well armored than other portions, and then she pronounced, "She cracked a few ribs all right, and one of them is severely fractured. There's some swelling that suggests internal bleeding...she's hurt pretty bad, and I think she needs a doctor..."

"No doctors," Nova said faintly, "Just get me to a regenerator and I'll be as fine as ever..."

"How the heck do we do that?" the Yui in the chest capsule asked.

"Easy, Doll-face," Nova replied, "You're in a regenerator right now...just open up your mind with me and I'll effect an instant spot transfer."

"Ah...okay," that Yui agreed, "But I..."

There was a flash of electricity, and all at once one Yui found herself sitting on the lap of the other, both naked and with tubes attached to the skin of the one who was sitting in the control seat.

"Ahhh..." Nova sighed as she breathed in the life-giving fluid of her chest unit, "This is soooo much better. You all right up there, Yui-chan?"

"Ah-Fine!" both Yuis chorused together before the one sitting down looked up at the other and said, "Do you mind?"

"Mind?" the other Yui asked, "There's no room to move in here! Where the heck do you expect me to go?"

"Here, let me make it a little easier for you guys, Yui-chans," Nova sighed, mentally instructing her Iczer-Robo to flood the upper cockpit with more bio-  
amniotic fluid.

Yuis One and Two yelped in surprised, but then a curious thing happened as the cockpit filled, and without warning one Yui flowed into the other to form a single person. In seconds a single Yui occupied the space formerly shared by the two of them, leaving Nova to stare in wonder through the control circuits of her Mecha as she absorbed and reflected on this fact, then said aloud, "You guys do that often?"

"Ah...every time we get splashed with hot water...or...whatever this is," Yui replied as she paused before breathing in the life-giving bioamniotic fluid, amazed as always that she could have the stuff in her lungs and still effectively talk like normal.

"So...warm water makes you come together," Nova said, pausing to open her mind before her eyes went wide and she asked, "And cold water separates you into two identical copies?"

"I'm afraid so," Yui replied, "Been that way all my life. I inherited it as a curse from my mother..."

"A curse?" Nova said skeptically, "You call a thing like that a curse? Like hell it is! This is great! Two of you for the price of one! All you do is add water and-instant Yui-chan in stereo! YEEE-HAH?"

All at once their Iczer Robo rocked on its heals as something massive struck it from the outside, causing both Yui and Nova to simultaneously blink their eyes before looking out from their capsules and seeing the massive thing that was pounding on the giant Mecha's body.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Nova declared as she looked upon the ebony-dark form of a giant composed entirely of what her sensors informed her were graphite fibers.

"That's not all," Yui said as she turned to see what looked like a virtual tree swinging its massive branches at them with fists shaped like wooden hammers.

"I don't believe this!" Nova complained as she saw a third giant take form, this one looking like an enormous snowman with a face that was as solid as a glacier, "These guys are really starting to annoy me, you know that?"

"Tell me about it," Yui frowned, "Any objections to kicking their collective butts...partner?"

Nova felt a thrill of delight upon hearing that term being applied to her and said, "None whatsoever, Yui-chan...let's kick 'em where it don't shine and clean those creeps off our boot heels!"

"Great formula...only...one problem," Yui belatedly remarked.

"And what's that?" Nova asked.

"How the heck do you steer this crazy thing!" Yui wailed, staring in dismay at the bewildering array of controls that comprised her unit's cockpit.

"Ah..." Nova was just about to answer that when she sensed something happening in the sky above their heads and said, "What they? A pinpoint gate here? What the heck is Grandma-I mean-Big Gold planning this time...?"

A second later a massive aerial explosion rendered the question partially academic...

Ken blanched as he saw the other giant Mecha looming large over them, but he managed to control his tone of voice as he said, "Ah...Atros-chan...you do know how to pilot one of these things, right?"

"Of course," Atros responded, overcoming her own surprise as she swiftly checked all systems to insure that she and Unit Sigma were at full fighting trim and ready for action.

Ken continued feeling disquieted as he saw a huge length of ruby-red light flare up from the hands of the enemy Mecha, forming a blade roughly fifty meters long and shaped somewhat like a katana, "Ah...Beautiful? Whatever you're gonna do, I suggest you do it now!"

"I'm ready," Atros declared with remarkable calm, feeling the flow between her and Iczer Sigma as if the two of them were extensions of one body, "Bring it on, Kuno-san, Iczer Sigma stands ready to greet you."

"We will see about that!" the voice of Godai Kuno echoed within their respective control cabins, and then without warning he raised the blade and started to slash down, only to have one hand of Iczer Sigma reach out to intercept it while the other formed a fist and shot forward while a stiletto-like blade projected from its forearm.

The thrust at the enemy Mecha's chest was easily brushed aside as the other Mecha turned sideways and freed one arm from the grip of Iczer-Sigma so that the other hand could move to block her. The rival Mecha then completed its turn by bringing its elbow in for a smashing blow aimed at Iczer Sigma's head, but Atros sensed it coming in time to duck out of the way and move beyond the reach of the downward slash that swiftly followed. The two giant robots moved apart to take better stock of one another, and Ken had the distinct impression of two ancient Samurai fighters squaring off like in a Kurusawa movie.

Iczer Sigma next extended a hand and at once a cobalt blue light filled the space within its hand, stretching out to form a shimmering blue beam whose indigo coloration reminded Ken very much of a Bunsen burner that had been properly adjusted for maximum efficiency in converting Methane into chemical heat power. Despite the cool feeling it manifested, he could sense the enormous destructive potential of this blade as their Mecha squared off to assume a fighting stance rivaling that of the other. The flow of their Bio-energy field the space all around them, and both Mecha remained motionless for a time as they gathered up their energies and prepared to engage in all-out Kenjuitsu warfare.

The two enemy Mecha moved at once, their blades slicing out and meeting part-way in a series of lightning strikes that caught and reposted each others lethal strikes without either one inflicting apparent damage. Even as they struck Ken could feel the pressure gathering around both Iczer Robos as waves of force collided and invisibly countered one another, the sheer effect of this sending waves of tremendous potency radiating out in all directions, and had they been in normal space they surely would have destroyed a good chunk of Nerima without hardly noticing it had happened.

Unseen by any of them, however, a small group of human figures took shelter amid the pseudo-rocks of the bleak and barren landscape, looking on from partial concealment as she covered their faces to withstand the forces that were unleashed by the two massive robots.

"What the heck is going on here?" Ranma asked as he peered through slitted eyes at the titanic battle being waged before them

"It's like I told you, Pop!" one of a seeming identical pair of Tenmas responded, "It's an Iczer battle...one of them's the good guys, the other's the bad guys..."

"And the one in the enemy unit is being piloted by my brother and sister!" Perm realized in dismay, not even bothering to ask how she could have sensed such a thing or have been this certain.

"So...my great-great grandchildren are being used as biological components in a massive weapons system, eh?" Cologne remarked with a faintly unreadable expression.

"Sure looks like it from where I'm standing, Sugar!" Ukyo had to raise her voice to be heard over the maelstrom, "But who's piloting the other Mecha?"

"Whoever they are," Yuki Taro remarked, "It looks almost like they're losing!"

Indeed Ken had his own opinions on that matter as Atros swung her blade hard against Godai's only to see the forearm of the enemy's Robot suddenly uncoil to reveal inky black ribbons that reached out to ensnare them.

"What?" Atros reacted with dismay.

"HOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!" came the haughty reply of Perm Kuno, "You weren't expecting such an attack from me? I'm almost hurt...just as you will be!"

"NO!" Atros cried as the enemy Mecha freed its blade and came slashing down at her with the ribbons effectively preventing her from getting her guard up in time to meet it.

Ken did not even know what he was doing as some part of his mind reached out and triggered the arm stilettos once again, but the net effect of their jutting free was to rip through a portion of the ribbon holding them captive, slicing it cleanly to free themselves as Atros whirled about in time to deflect the blow that would have finished their fight forever.

"WHAT?" Godai's voice exclaimed, "But how did you...?"

"Trade secret, Sword-boy!" Ken replied to cover up his own confusion on that matter.

"Ken-san...you did that?" Atros remarked in a tone of wonder.

"Hey, that's us Tofus and Tendos in a nutshell, Beautiful," he quipped to hide his reactions behind mere bravado, "We always rise to meet the occasion."

"You don't say," Atros mused as she busied herself with reposting a few more strikes aimed at them by an increasingly frustrated Godai, "Then perhaps we should test this theory after this is all over..."

"Huh?" Ken asked, "What do you...?"

"After the fight is over," Atros replied with a disturbingly arched tone to her melodious voice, "It's a secret..."

"Well," said Tenma-the authentic one-guess that settles who the good guy is here. It's always gotta be the guy who's struggling just to keep even...and besides, the other guy's fighting dirty."

"They are at that, Son," Ranma grimly noted as he had more than a little experience in that department on his own, "Besides, I've seen those moves before, and I'm pretty sure it's Ken Tofu in that other robot, and the bad guy definitely fights like a Kuno."

"Well, at least that settles who's who in all this," Ukyo remarked pragmatically, "Only question is...do either of those two know who all it was that just dropped the big one on Nerima...and where the heck is Sakura?"

"Very good questions," Cologne nodded, "Which begs the further question...what is going on back in the city while we are getting this ringside view of the action here?"

No one ventured to answer that point even while-elsewhere in time and space-  
someone else was venturing the same question...

"What the heck happened here?" Muku asked, staring around at the Command Complex of Gamora base and seeing everyone sitting or standing at their posts looking like statues.

"Temporal freeze," came the automatic answer in her ears, "What you are seeing is a moment of time distilled and captured in a state of Fugue that is being stretched a nearly infinite distance."

"Huh?" Muku replied, "Mind explaining that in Japanese?"

"He means that everyone and everything is somehow trapped within a massive field that has frozen time to a single instant, Muku-chan," Rhea answered as she carefully made her way around the complex, "My best guess is that Big Gold used some sort of Chronal device to immobilize everyone...but for what purpose I am at a loss to account."

"That's what I thought he said," Muku replied as she stared at Sub-Commander Sepia's paralyzed expression of surprise and confusion, "Are they still alive?"

"Oh yes," Rhea replied, "Alive and unharmed, at least for the moment."

"For the moment...and how long is that?" Muku wondered as she glanced down at the Iczelion armor that she was wearing, then tested out her theory by putting her hand through an equipment panel and watching herself pass unharmed through the atop of the console.

"That is the question," Rhea replied, "Were the both of us not trans-phased into an intermediate state we might be affected by the time-freeze. Somehow the Isolation field separated us from the effect of whatever weapon has been used here, but everywhere throughout Gamora complex-and by this I should also include the human city of Tokyo above us-it is as if everything were somehow being preserved in a block of solid amber. Even the particles of air around us are frozen to a state that would prove awkward for us if we were to attempt to move through them unprotected."

"Then how can we still both be breathing?" Muku wondered.

"Your Iczelion armor is providing you with all that you require, Muku-chan," Rhea answered, "While an I do not need to breathe oxygen in the same manner as you. I can recycle internally whatever oxygen I require to maintain my systems...it's the same principle by which an Iczer can travel through the hostile environment of hard vacuum. And phasing as we are is a useful trick when moving at great speeds through whatever environment we encounter..."

"So you can survive without air, huh?" Muku remarked, "It figures. I'll bet you're like greased lightning underwater too..."

"I am," Rhea arched an eyebrow, "Why do you ask?"

"Well...my Mom has this little problem with swimming," Muku shrugged, "I swim great, just like Dad, but Mom sinks like an anchor...never could figure out why that is. Negative buoyancy, I guess..."

"Everyone has something that they are good at...and something at which they are awful," Rhea reasoned.

"With my Mom it's cooking and swimming," Muku replied, "Funny thing...she's great at skating above frozen water, but under it, she's a lead weight. Weird huh?"

"I suppose it might seem that way in a certain light," Rhea replied, "But that's not really relevant to the matter at hand, is it?"

"Yeah, dunno why it seemed like mentioning right now, Honey," Muku replied, "Guess what I mean to say is that everybody's got an Achilles heal about something, right?"

"Ah...I understand the reference," Rhea said with faint humor, "Greek mythology, as you might have guessed, fascinated me when I was younger. The strong, heroic individual who is invulnerable in all ways but one is a theme very recurrent throughout the whole literature of heroes..."

"Uh oh," Muku glanced down as she saw a light flash on her wrist, "Er...is that something important?"

Before Rhea could speak her Iczelion armor reported, "Detecting motion in the space directly above this point, Mistress. A large energy signature outside of the defense barrier, which is currently offline."

"Offline?" Rhea glanced in alarm at Muku's armor, "The barrier is down?"

"This Unit means that the barrier is inoperative under present circumstances," the Iczelion clarified.

"Of course!" Rhea exclaimed, "That was shy she did it! Big Gold knew that the defense screen surrounding New Gamora could not be breached by conventional means...but...then that would imply..."

"That we're under attack?" Muku asked, for once leaping to the correct conclusion.

"Quickly, we must go there at once to meet the danger!" Rhea declared, and without pausing to relay her instructions she teleported away from the command center, Muku's Iczelion armor following suit without needing to be prompted.

Muku blinked her eyes, surprised at the sudden transition from artificial to natural lighting, even as she stared in dismay at a huge object slowly descending towards Tokyo, large and dangerous looking, which prompted her to ask, "What is that?"

"Trouble," Rhea replied, even knowing as she said this that she was understating the case by a factor of ten to the Nth power.

Death was descending towards the city of Nerima, and Hell would surely follow after unless they did something fast...but what that would be she had no more idea than Muku, only that they had to meet this challenge together, and as there was no one else whom Rhea would rather fight beside than her beloved partner, she readied her resources to meet the latest threat from Big Gold in the manner of a true Iczer...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Temporal Fugue 101: shadowmane

What is Big Gold planning this time, and how can Rhea and Muku hope to defeat it? For the answer to this and many other interesting questions tune in for our next exciting installment: "Time after Slime," or, "Tempest Fugitive!" Be there!

X -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	40. Chapter 40

Earthchild40

The Earthchild

(An Iczer/Ranma/Sailor Moon Crossover)

by Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi,  
Naoko Takeuchi, Toshihiro Hirano,  
&amp; Hitoshi Okuda, with ideas and suggestions by TH Tiger and Johannes Huber)

Chapter Forty.

"HYPER GRAVITY WAVE!"

"TSUNAMI STRIKE!"

'BLACK CHAIN LIGHTNING ATTACK!"

The three Iczelion warriors plowed through the ranks of the enemy defenders as they emerged out onto the other side of the barrier, encountering the supporting wave of Big Gold's legions and surprising them with a savage counter-offensive.

Their efforts-although quite effective and formidable-paled to insignificance as Iczer Beta really cut loose, unleashing a wave of forcefield energy keyed to disrupt the cellular matter of the Venomoids caught within its sphere of influence. Iczer Two further added to the disarray and confusion by discharging energy surges that worked to effectively neutralize the Voids and Geos who fell prey to the cascading effect, and like that the area was cleared before her, leaving a path between the portal and the towering citadel that stood near the center of an enormous complex, the seat of Gold's power the attackers knew without need of any prompting.

"There it is!" cried Nami as she paused in the act of bisecting her enemies into smaller component pieces.

"Energy signature confirmed," Kawai acknowledged as she made a sweeping double-  
hand gesture that caused a beam to scythe through the ranks of those enemy forces closest to her position.

"Major-league power-reading," Kiiro agreed as she unleashed her deadly "Meteor-  
Shower Starburst" attack that pelted and disrupted the enemy forces currently attempting to overwhelm her, "That has to be Gold's place...we're on the threshold of breaching her defenses."

"Understood and agreed," Iczer Two replied, "And that is where I am going. Be sure to hold this position, and don't wait around to sight see. If I tell you to withdraw, you go back through the gate with no questions or hesitation, understood?"

"Sounds like you're planning to throw a little party of your own," Nami mused as she energized a fist and planted it full into the chest of a massive Void, shattering it internally as it burst its synthetic guts all over her Teflon-like armor.

"What's the matter?" Kiiro asked as she unleashed her energy boomerangs and swept the field in two parabolic directions, "Not planning on inviting us along? How rude..."

"There's still the little business about dealing with the defenders, Commander," Kawaii more sagely noted, "And you would have more chances of success if we came along to watch your backside..."

"Negative," Iczer Two replied, "Sayoko and I will be enough from this point onward. You three have done your job, but I need you here where you can be the most effective. If things go sour then you are to head back to Earth and lend your power to our defenses...they'll need everything they can get with Gold's forces running loose everywhere...and besides, you are much too valuable to lose in trying to buy me a few more seconds..."

"Are you saying that you are not similarly valuable to us, Commander?" Nami asked as she paused in the act of mowing down a concentration of enemy troops, "We would tend to disagree..."

"You are as valuable any member of our people," Kawai affirmed, "And we have no intention of leaving here without you and Sayoko."

"There's no way we'd go slinking back to explain things to your sister without having you along," Kiiro insisted, "None of us is that brave...and besides, it would be way too quiet back home without you, and you really don't want to hear me have to sing your funeral dirge."

"Better listen to her, Commander," Kawai quipped in her usual pleasant demeanor, "She's more than capable of doing just that..."

"And we'd be forced to listen to her moaning on about you," Nami added, "So, if it's all the same, we'll just stick around and see to it that doesn't happen."

Iczer Two paused to smile as a warm feeling suffused her being at the loyalty of these, her friends, but she managed to assuage them with a gentle, "Don't worry...this is not a Kamikaze raid. Sayoko and I have no intentions of perishing here...but the same cannot be said of Big Gold, and I can do my work most effectively without worrying for your sakes. Trust me on this, it is Gold who will have no where to escape when I am done with her this day."

With that Iczer Beta started glowing brightly as a prelude to discharging an even more massive energy burst than before, one that lanced out from the giant Mecha to clear a path a kilometer wide and five kilometers long between the gate and the center of the city.

"Oh," Nami said mildly, "Well, in that case, Commander, good hunting!"

"We'll watch your back from here," Kawai assured her.

"Yeah," Kiiro agreed, "Way back here. Hey guys...is it just me or does this place look a little familiar to you...?"

"Now that you mention it," Nami frowned, "It does look a bit like that area in subspace where we've been doing most of our recent fighting."

"I wonder if it could be a coincidence...or does it portend something truly significant?" Kawai wondered aloud before shrugging, "Oh well...I suppose that is a question that can wait for later."

"Good point," Kiiro remarked, sweeping her gaze over the ranks of Gold's legions, "There are still enemies to kill, and I hate to leave unfinished business."

Nami noted that more of the enemy forces seemed to be pouring out from various quarters as if being turned out on an assembly line by some hidden factory complex and sighed, "I hate easy battles...let's show these creeps what it means to face an Iczelion, Sisters!"

Her partners agreed as they tore into the enemy mass with a fury while Iczer Beta and its single pilot moved like a guided rocket towards the citadel of Big Gold and the primary seat of all enemy mischief. As she approached she encountered stiff resistance from primary and secondary weapons arrays, but these had no effect whatsoever against her shields as Iczer Two poured on the heat and broke through their defenses...then went crashing through the wall of the towering fortress itself, imbedding her Mecha deep within the elaborately reinforced complex.

The primary work of delivering herself to her target goal completed, Iczer Two teleported herself the rest of the way, appearing once again within a massive audience chamber facing a set of stairs leading up towards a huge high-tech dais upon which was set a massive throne chair...and sitting upon the throne itself was her enemy and creator, Big Gold, the central controlling figure who singularly ran the entire width and breadth of her empire.

"Hello, False Mother," Iczer Two addressed herself to her enemy with only the flash of her crimson eyes giving hint to her actual disposition.

"Greetings to you, my prodigal child," Big Gold responded, "I could say that this was an unexpected maneuver on your part...but I would be lying."

"You suspected that I would come?" Iczer Two inquired.

"There was a possibility, however remote, that you would find a way to work yourself back into my presence," Big Gold replied, "So I took what steps I could to anticipate your actions, and now you have returned to me. This is a great day indeed, for you have given me the means for conquering your dimension and destroying the Iczers once and forever."

Iczer Two sensed the massive surge of weaponry being leveled at her, could sense the force screens flaring up around to contain her, felt Big Gold initiating some manner of Neural-Interfacing projectors that were designed to subjugate even an Iczer's neural systems and just coldly regarded her so-called creator with a casual, "Is this the best that you can do?"

"Oh no," Big Gold confidently replied, "That comes later...only after I have killed you..."

"The Blue Area on the Moon you say?" Commander Koenig asked with an uplifted eyebrow.

"That is correct, Commander," Lieutenant Grape informed him, "The energy emanations unmistakably originated from the forbidden zone. I am at a loss to explain it, but whatever just happened most definitely hailed from the most exclusive area on the entire lunar surface."

"The Blue Area," Koenig turned to his chief Science Officer and asked, "Maya...what do you make of this?"

"Unknown at this time, Commander," the shapeshifting alien woman replied, "But by the looks of things some ancient ruins have started to glow in a manner that I believe you humans call 'Unearthly.' We are perceiving what appears to be the outlines of an ethereal castle structure, but there is no solid confirmation that it even exists on our level of reality."

Koenig frowned as he considered the implications. The Blue Area was ultra-top-  
secret, its very existence withheld from the knowledge of even most intelligence groups, let alone the general public of the Earth. Only a handful of people knew why it was off-limits even to the personnel of Moon Base Alpha and SHADO. The area was home to an incredibly ancient and reclusive being whose very existence was a challenge to everything that humans believed about their science. No one wanted to disturb that individual or incur his undo attention. It was for that reason that the restriction was in place totally forbidding-  
under any circumstances-that any personnel would come within five hundred kilometers of the place. The being who dwelled there was potentially quite dangerous, and he was every watchful and knowing, an enigma wrapped around a mystery and by definition someone not to be crossed under any circumstances.

Only one time during his tenure as Base Commander had Koenig ever come close to violating that statute...only once...and yet that singular encounter was enough to thoroughly convince him that there were some mysteries in the Universe that were best left alone, that even arrogant humanity had no business venturing that close to the abyss lest he have a second encounter with that alien, a fate he would not wish on his worse enemy, if he had any enemies still living.

And yet, somehow, he sensed that this energy did not originate with the alien in question, that it was of a wholly different nature and thus a mystery compounding every other. Koenig wondered what this new enigma might entail. The last time had resulted in Maya being recruited to join their crew as a semi-  
permanent alien observer...this new encounter promised something even more extraordinary, and so he turned to Maya and gave his standard response to dealing with such matters.

"Continue scanning but take no action until we have more data," he commanded, "And if there's any more contact with whoever it was that created that comet..."

"It's still moving towards Earth, sir," Maya replied, then added in a more personal tone, "John...there are many disturbing reports of alien activity on your world...if this is a new attack to compound things while our defenses are already at full capacity..."

"I know," he said grimly, "But there's nothing we can do at this point but watch and pray for a miracle."

Little did he know that one miracle was on the way followed closely by her companion stars as the Senshi headed back towards Earth to confront the evil that threatened to choke out all light forever...

"...A blue area on the moon?" Sakura asked skeptically.

"Hey, I'm just telling you it's there," Troi shrugged, "Ancient ruins-and I mean really ancient-like there was a city there at one time in history, only now the buildings are all scattered into rubble. We think either a war or a natural calamity must have hit the place, but the funny thing is that it still retains a breathable atmosphere...some kind of permanent forcefield or something traps it in like a bubble."

"But who could have built such a thing?" Sakura asked.

"We don't really know," Iczer One replied, "In truth we have found traces of a long-vanished civilizations scattered all throughout the solar system, but we have little to go on to tell us about these ancient inhabitants. The most that anyone can say is that it probably belonged to that lost civilization that you Terrans call Atlantis."

"And that's just the tip of the iceberg as far as most of us know," Nagisa remarked, "The problem is we can't go in there and do excavations on account of the Watcher...he's this alien who lives there now, and the less you know about him the better."

"Swell," Sakura said, "So...meanwhile that energy ball is headed for Earth and we don't know what it is or what it means to the planet?"

"That's about the size of it, Honey-pot," Troi replied, "Hey Sis...why don't we teleport ahead of the thing and try to deflect it?"

"We don't even know what it is or what it signifies, Sister," Iczer One cautioned, "We could well wind up doing more harm than good if we tried that."

"Well, we ought to do something," Nagisa reasoned, "How do you expect us to keep our Hero-status, Ichan, if we just sit around and do..."

"Protector!" Wing Leader Amber suddenly spoke up, "We've lost contact with Gamora base, and indications are that the enemy has done something...detonated a device, we think, that has cut off all communications!"

"What?" Iczer One reacted, "A device you say?"

"What kind?" Troi asked.

"Analysis classifies it as...a temporal interlay suspension field," Amber frowned, "Does that mean what I think it does?"

"I'm afraid so," Iczer One replied.

"A Time Bomb!" Nagisa affirmed, "We have to get down there and stop it or New Gamora is toast!"

"Then what are we waiting around here for?" Troi asked.

"Good question," Iczer One replied, "Iczelion Corps...have two wings stand by the Worldship and take part in the clean up operation. The rest of you with me!"

"HAI!" came the immediate response from all attending Iczelions, including Troi in her Delta unit as Sakura turned her eyes towards the blue marble that was earth and silently mouthed a prayer to the Kami regarding the welfare of her parents...

"Hmmm," Ranma scowled as he watched the battle rage between the two giant Mecha, the larger one taking an aggressive posture that had the smaller one on the defensive, and the fact that a potential son in law of his was on the ropes in the latter made him instantly sympathetic.

"We have to do something!" Yuki declared, "We can't let this continue!"

"I'm with you on that," the Tenma nearest to her replied, "But...how?"

The other Tenma just smiled, "Heh, no problem! I know just what to do here!"

"You do, Sugar?" his mother asked with lifted eyebrows.

"It's like instant okonomiyaki, Mom," her son assured her, "Just watch me!"

With that the young Saotome moved away from his parents and the others in their small group, risking the tidal backwash of conflicting energies as he squared his stance and summoned up his Chi, using his newly refined powers of concentration as he formed an image in his mind and started reaching out to the substance of the Subspace field in order to make it happen.

To the amazement of everyone who saw it happen, the very air around the young boy took shape and started unfolding into a number of strangely mechanical-yet-  
abstract patterns. Like watching a Computer Animorphic animation taking shape they saw the machinery take form and expand outward, growing in size and complexity with an audible clanking sound, as if real metal plates were being slapped and ground against one another. Before they knew it Tenma was surrounded by a truly impressive looking mechanism shaped oddly like a super-  
sized set of double-barrel cannons, complete with control chair and turret and looking deadly enough to put a good-sized dent into the side of a battleship, had one been handy.

"Showoff," the other Tenma growled in obvious resentment at the accomplishment of the original model.

"How's this for special effects, Pop?" Tenma called over the howling in the air all around them.

"Not too shabby, Son!" Ranma called back, "But is that thing real or just a prop?"

"Just watch and see, Pop!" the boy called out before depressing the trigger on the togglestick he was holding, and a humming noise built up a charge in preparation to discharge...

Ken and Atros were busy trading blows with the enemy Mecha as Gel and Godai pulled out all the stops and attempted to overwhelm them with sheer force and audacity, to say nothing of a weapons array that was strangely reminiscent of their usual arsenal of weapons. Presently the larger Mecha was wielding a pair of enormous Bonbori and were lashing out at the Iczer Robo known as Sigma. As large and cumbersome as their Mecha proved to be, however, Atros managed to dodge and deflect most of these attacks, but the few that scored caused the entire mass of Iczer-Sigma to tremble, and with her own arsenal of tricks nearly exhausted Atros was forced to become more innovative.

That is until Ken stepped into the fight and started making some **useful** suggestions...

"Atros! Gel and Godai are formidable fighters, but they have predictable weaknesses that you can exploit if you know where to find them!"

"Indeed?" Atros replied while continuing to work her controls, "Such as?"

"Can you read my mind?" Ken asked, "Open yourself to me and you'll figure it out!"

Seeing no better course of action was available to her, Atros did as requested and allowed the link that existed between her and her male partner to blossom out into a virtual two-way communication channel, no longer actively trying to keep him out of her conscious thoughts as the distinctive differences in their thought processes had made such an awareness more of a distraction than she could have afforded until that desperate moment.

Doing so made her aware that their differences were more than just physical, psychological or even hormonal, and at once she understood why men were not usually selected for partnering with an Iczer. He had very different neural responses and reactions from what she was accustomed to...a woman would not have felt like that, and for a few brief instants the very dichotomy of what she was perceiving nearly threw off her Biorhythms. She managed to adjust and recover in time to head off disaster while continuing to fend off the savage attacks of the enemy bonbori, buying just enough time as she did so to find the information that he was trying to send to her after a fashion.

And then Atros integrated the new fighting techniques into her overall matrix and fed the instructions into the Iczer Robo, which immediately began fighting by a different set of methods. The sudden shift in tactics caught the Kunos by surprise, batting aside the overlarge bonbori clubs to step inside the guard of the enemy Mecha, at which point Atros drove one fist forward and aimed squarely at the chest plate, landing squarely in the center as she discharged a point-  
blank burst of concentrated Bio-energy, enough to blow a hole through the side of a good-sized mountain.

To her utter amazement Atros found this energy was dispersed, harmlessly flowing around the integrity shielding surrounding the giant Mecha, making her efforts amount to virtually nothing.

"What?" Atros exclaimed in dismay and disbelief, one second before she felt a huge hand close around the neck of her Iczer Robo, which felt exactly as if her own neck were being gripped even as her Mecha was lifted off the ground and held up like a doll for critical inspection.

"SURPRISED, ICZER-TRASH?" Gel's voice sounded magnified in her own ears, "DID YOU THINK YOUR PUNY ICZERIO ENERGIES COULD MATCH THE STRENGTH OF OUR WILL? NOW YOU WILL KNOW WHAT SUFFERING CAN TRULY MEAN AS WE TEAR YOUR HEAD LOOSE FROM YOUR USELESS BODY!"

"Gel...you idiot," Perm softly murmured, shaking her purple head, "Do you even know what you are doing, Sister?"

"I'm afraid not, Perm-san," the other Tenma said in tacit sympathy, "With Gold controlling their actions that ain't really your brother and sister."

Ken was shocked to discover that he could feel the pressure around the neck of the Iczer Robo, albeit to a somewhat lesser extent than his partner, but he retained enough clarity to see the other hand of the enemy Mecha form into a blade-edged weapon, which same the Kuno siblings started to drive forward with the clear intent to piercing through the command capsule in which Atros was struggling for breath. This thought flowed through his mind with the speed of liquid quicksilver and awoke in him an immediate response, and at once the right arm of Iczer Sigma rose up to intercept this bladed-fist before it could reach its target.

"WHAT?" both Gel and Godai cried together as they had not expected such a potent resistance at this juncture, let alone the strength behind the grip that squeezed their arm with astonishing force, causing pain to resonate through their own neural grid as they fought to free their member...to no avail as Ken was not letting up and only redoubled the pressure.

"YOU-WON'T-HURT-HER!" Ken snarled, accenting each word as he squeezed his own hand against an imaginary arm, feeling the resistance even as his fury redoubled.

"IMPOSSIBLE!" Godai haughtily declared, "HOW ARE YOU DOING THIS? WHERE ARE YOU FIINDING THE ENERGY?"

This time Ken drove his other fist forward and struck the arm gripping their Mecha, and with precisely applied force he struck that arm at the point that equated with an elbow, forcing the joint to bend back against itself, which broke the arm effectively, causing more pain to feedback into the Kunos, which caused them to stagger backwards favoring that massive arm which was effectively inoperable as Ken let them go and assumed a defensive stance, summoning up his rage and tempering it with the force of his will and emotions.

"Got them dead to rights!" Tenma declared, preparing to fire his weapon when Perm put a hand to his shoulder.

"Stop!" she cried, "Don't kill them! They're still my brother and sister!"

Atros recovered her bearings just then, having been aware of what had happened but not quite able to reconcile what she had experienced while unable to defend herself or her partner.

"Did you just do all that?" she gasped.

"Hey...we're partners, right?" Ken replied, "You watch my back, I'll watch yours, Beautiful."

"But...that's not the point..." Atros stammered, "How could you take control like that...?"

"Hey, you're the pilot, you tell me," Ken replied, "I'm just making it up as I go along.."

"Hey, I ain't killing nobody!" Tenma insisted, "Just lemme take the shot and I'll put a stop to things, trust me!"

"I am to trust you?" Perm asked skeptically, glancing at the weapon itself, "I don't even understand how you created this monstrosity..."

"But he is right, Child," Cologne assured her, "Trust the boy to do what he intends. It is the best hope we have of recovering your siblings."

"But...Great-great-grandmother...!" Perm protested, only to see the look in her Elder's eyes, which forced her to bow her head in tacit submission.

"YOU HURT ME!" Gel declared in outrage as the shoulder pauldrons of her Mecha deployed a pair of very nasty looking beam weapons, "FOR THAT YOU BOTH DIE!"

"Yeah, so?" Ken responded as he held Iczer Sigma at the ready, growing more familiar with the surge of energy patterns that laced the massive Mecha body and discovering how easy it was to use his knowledge of Chakra centers and pressure points allowing him to maximize the flow of Ki-force as he plotted out strategies for countering whatever the Kunos were planning.

Atros-now more aware of her partner's thoughts and emotions than ever-was amazed at the ingeniousness of what he was planning and immediately linked in, allowing her hands to work the controls in accordance with his intentions.

"SHINAIIII!" Gel cried as the force cannons on her Mecha's shoulders unleashed a blast that was staggering in terms of the raw energy being unleashed, but Iczer Sigma was no where within the path of the blast, having rocketed into the air with a speed that took the Kunos by surprise, and by the time they had started to turn their focus upward it was in time to see the giant foot that was suddenly filling their vision as Iczer Sigma landed a solid kick to the head that staggered the giant Iczer, even though most of the brunt of the force was absorbed and deflected, sparing Gel the fate that would have surely ended her life completely. As it was she was momentarily stunned and effectively taken out of the battle.

Perm could only sigh upon seeing this, saying somberly, "And that they learned from father..."

"I got a shot," Tenma said as he stared at the enemy Mecha through the grid-  
lines of a screen, "I think I know how to take 'em out without killing them. You gonna let me shoot?"

Perm hesitated for only a moment then nodded her head once and stood back from Tenma's weapon.

Godai rallied from his control capsule and snarled, "YOU DARE DO THAT TO MY SISTER? TOFU-SCUM, YOU WILL SUFFER-!"

"Give it a rest, Gai!" Ken replied, "You're losing this match, back off now before somebody really does get hurt. We were friends once...don't make me hurt you..."

"YOU...HURT ME?" Godai declared, then raised the good arm of his Mecha and cried, "NEVER! THUNDER ATTACK!"

With that declaration a cloud of roiling static discharged formed about the damaged Mecha and coalesced into a cloud around it, creating thunder and lightning that lashed out at Iczer Sigma and forced Atros and Godai to take evasive steps to put some more distance between them. They watched in horror as Godai willed his Mecha's gauntleted fist to accumulate for one massive energy burst, and this time there was no where to run or avoid the blast as it came sweeping at them like a wave, leaving the defenders no chance to do anything more than raise their arms and call upon their own combined Ki-force.

"NOW!" Tenma declared as he depressed the final trigger and fired a bolt of light aimed for the spot that he had detected and his aim was flawless, backed by the force of his own will and tempered by the training he had labored to protect.

Godai never even sensed the attack until it impacted on his shields and went right through them like a bullet through weak body armor. Once inside those shields its protective shell coating dissipated, unleashing its true energy like a shaped particle charge that discharged against a focused point where it could do the most damage.

All at once the other arm-and most of the shoulder-fell away as the Mecha staggered backward from the sheer kinetic force of the mortal blow that it had taken. Systems all across the board began to fail as the Mecha fell to its armored knees then rocked back on its heels and became immobile, sparks of energy discharging harmlessly into the void while the Mecha itself shut down from the destruction of its central relay system.

"Nice shooting, Son," Ranma said into the ensuing silence as even the winds started to die down to where one could hear themselves without shouting.

"Heh...no sweat, Pop," Tenma said, "Toldja I could do it."

"That you did, Sugar," Ukyo said with a note of disquiet.

"Heh, even I'm impressed with that one," the other Tenma remarked.

"But...Godai...and Gel..." Perm stressed, just in case anyone had forgotten about her concerns in this matter.

"You need not fear," Cologne assured her, "They made it out of there all right...at least, Godai did, and he brought your sister with him."

"Eh?" Ranma said as he and the others turned to see the pair of figures perched atop a nearby hill rise, one the armored Godai, the other-carried in both arms-the unconscious Gel who obviously had taken the worst of the recent action.

"What's happened to them?" Yuki asked on behalf of the others, "That doesn't even look like the son of Kuno Tatewaki..."

"He's changed, Yuki-chan," the Tenma beside him replied, "He just looks like Godai-san, he's really been turned into a monster by my former Master."

Ukyo held her spatula at the ready and was the first to break the uneasy silence that hung between them and the Kuno siblings, "You about done up there, Jackass, or are you gonna go for extra rounds this time?"

Godai just glared at them while holding Gel protectively in both arms until he turned his eyes upon Ranma, who reacted to that look as though it were a verbal challenge.

"You wanna try your luck with me, Kid?" Ranma asked as he took a step forward to put a modicum of distance between himself and the others, "You think you've improved enough to be ready for the big leagues?"

"Sensei," Godai's tone conveyed neither warmth nor disdain, "You are indeed a formidable fighter...for a mere human...but you are outclassed if you think to take me on in a straight battle."

"Heh, I've heard that one before, lots of times," Ranma smirked, "Your Dad, for one thing, used to say it to me on a daily basis..."

"He means it, Pop," Tenma said as he came to take a defensive stance at his father's side, the other Tenma doing the same thing on his opposite side, and each of them looking ready to start trouble on their own prerogative as the other Tenma added, "He's being Mind-controlled...not that Godai-san ever had much of a mind to control in the first place..."

All at once a flash of light heralded the sudden appearance of Atros and Ken, whose arrival together surprised the Saotome clan as much as it brought a raised eyebrow to Cologne ancient features.

"You've been defeated, Kuno-san," Atros declared, "Surrender now and spare yourself further humiliation."

"Or, to put it another way," Ken added, "You two have had your fun and brought a few gray hairs to your folks, so what say we call it a day and wind this up before anybody really gets hurt, besides your robot over there? You don't really want to continue in your state."

Ukyo blinked as she saw the dark haired girl standing so intimately close to her daughter's iinazuke, and she briefly considered making a point about this but thought the better of it as she realized that they had a more immediate crisis on their hands that demanded their full attention. Just the same her hands tightened on her combat spatula as she silently avowed that explanations would be shortly forthcoming...

"Perhaps this battle has been lost," Godai suddenly seemed quite animated as he snarled, "But the Lords of the Heavens do not know the meaning of surrender!"

"In other words your Boss would fry your ass if you come back to her a failure," Tenma translated, "Bad guys always think it's all or nothing an' no excuse for coming in second best..."

"Oh, you noticed that too, huh?" the other Tenma noted, "Why do you think I switched sides? You guys are cool, Big Gold's no fun to be around."

"Sure you don't got a better reason than that, Sugar?" Ukyo smirked as she shifted her focus and gave a sidelong glance at the attentive Yuki.

"Huh?" the other Tenma reacted.

Perm stepped forward and said, "Godai...please stop! I don't know what they did to you and Gel, but hurting people like this won't help solve anything. All you're doing is hurting yourselves..."

"Be quiet," Godai's eyes literally flashed as a beam of energy shot from his eyes to strike Perm in the arm as she barely managed to dodge a more lethal strike than this.

"What the-?" Ranma reacted.

"Jackass!" Ukyo breathed in disbelief.

"How could you?" Yuki demanded, "She's your sister!"

"Was my sister," Godai replied, "Now she is an embarrassing reminder of what I have cast aside to attain perfection. The only sister I need...is Gel, who has also been made perfect..."

"Perfection is a word not to be too lightly tossed about, Great-Great Grandson," Cologne sternly noted as she tended to Perm's arm, "And no warrior who lacks compassion can be truly near to perfection."

"I am beyond your worn out philosophy, Old Woman," Godai sneeringly replied, "You are not my Master, nor were you ever so entitled. I set my own path in the world now, and you cannot limit us to what you define as the proper path of our lives."

"Maybe she can't," Atros replied, "But I can stop you."

"And that includes me in the package," Ken flexed his arms and suddenly a robotic figure appeared at his side, "Care to meet me man-to-man for a rematch?"

"I defeated you once already, Fool," Godai condescendingly began to say when he turned his glance to the side and said, "EH?"

A shimmering light heralded the appearance of yet another giant Mecha, this one red-hued and looking only mildly battled scarred from previous usage.

"What the heck?" Yui asked as she glanced around in some confusion from the vantage point of her control cabin.

"Whew, that was close!" Nova exclaimed, "Another second or two and we'd have gotten ourselves trapped up in the field effect of that Time Bomb!"

"Time Bomb?" Yui exclaimed, "What are you talking about? Where are we?"

"Subspace, of course," Nova blinked, "Hey...is that Iczer...Sigma? And that wreck over there...boy, that guy's definitely seen better days! Hope they got the number of his Medical Plan..."

"Another one?" Ukyo exclaimed in some surprise.

"What is this, a convention?" Ranma added with his own confused expression.

"It's all right...she's a friend...sort of," Atros turned back to Godai and said, "You are even more outnumbered than before, and since it would...offend many of those here present to see harm done to you now...I would suggest a prudent surrender..."

All at once another shimmering heralded the appearance of four more huge forms, this time looking more like amorphous giants rather than combat mecha, at which point Nova exclaimed, "Oh no...not those guys again! This is getting super-  
annoying..."

"It's a convention all right," Perm said between grit teeth, turning to her Elder and saying, "I am all right, Elder...it was a glancing blow, not truly serious..."

"So you now presume yourself a healer, do you?" Cologne said dryly, "I suggest you take precautions and hold back from the battle that is about to begin until you do recover your bearings. I would rather not see all three of my heirs laid waste due to the evils of another."

"How touching," Godai scoffed, "But as you can see, our side now has yours outnumbered, and in another moment still you will find your fortunes fare even worse than you imagine."

"Huh?" Tenma said.

"What the heck are you talking about, Kid?" Ranma asked.

"Oh no," the other Tenma reacted as he turned with a horrified expression towards another rise upon the landscape, She's here...Neos!"

"What?" Ukyo asked, "Who's that again, Sugar?"

A crackling static heralded the reply to that question as Neos Gold was drawn by curiosity, having sensed the massive concentration of energies gathered in one section of Subspace, decided to come here after having suffered a recent set-  
back of her own against the Iczers. Upon finding the reborn Masters of Heaven with the Kunos gathered with the traitors, Atros and Nova, she saw a chance for possible redemption in the eyes of Big Gold at hand. As such she smiled beneath her mask and contemplated where to begin in unleashing her wrath, for there were so many possible victims to be found here. The only thing that would have made it ideal would be for the other Iczers to be on hand...but then again, one had to start somewhere, and a better relief from job stress could hardly be asked for.

"Uh-oh," Ken remarked to himself, "Something tells me this is going to be trouble..."

"So...have you figured out what that thing is yet?" Muku asked, trying not to be too badly freaked out at the realization that she was flying hundreds of meters above the ground in a space suit of armor with her girlfriend nearby hovering in the air like a comic-Manga superhero.

"I believe that I have," Rhea replied as she studied the hovering fifty-meter wide ball that was at the center of their current troubles, "My senses confirm what your Iczelion armor has deduced...it is an explosive device created to punch a hole through the Earth into the underground city directly below us."

"So she wants to kill everybody?" Muku paled, "That's inhuman!"

"So is Big Gold," Rhea replied, "She does not truly care about casualties, all she cares about is victory and eliminating any force that is not directly under her dominion. If she could subvert and rule us, then she would do so, but if we resist her control then we have to be destroyed...that is the logic of a Virus."

"Well...can't we do something to stop it?" Muku asked, "My home is somewhere down there, not to mention yours, and if this thing goes off it could kill millions!"

"Which is what was intended," Rhea considered the point, "We are not being affected by the Temporal Suspension field because we are phased out of regular synch with the quantum flux variations, but in this state we are unable to affect anything that is being slowed down by the field, which greatly limits our range of available options. What we are seeing is actually a moment of time slowed down to an almost infinite length, perhaps as much as one or two seconds of regular time stretched out to what might seem like an hour to us, which means that the warhead for this bomb is fully active and about to discharge with lethal force. There is no time to disarm it, and the moment the field reverts to normal the blast will take advantage of the shields being down around New Gamora city and..."

"What if we got rid of it?" Muku asked, "I mean...the thing's big, right? But if we could move somewhere else so that when it goes off..."

Rhea turned to look at her partner with a wondering expression, "Yes...that might work...but it would require precision phasing, to say nothing of a great deal of energy expended on both our parts. If I can summon up my Iczer-Robo we should be able to coordinate it just right...but...Muku-chan...if we can find a place to transport the bomb...it will immediately phase back into normal time, and that means it could blow up right in our faces."

"Yeah...so?" Muku asked somewhat nervously, "If we don't do this, then everyone we love is gonna die, right?"

Rhea smiled at that, "A very good point that...and it may be that we can survive the explosion...bit it will be a near thing either way. Are you up to attempting this?"

"Hey, you only live once, right?" Muku shrugged, looking directly at the Iczer, "I trust you, Honey...I know you've got what it takes to do this, and if it all goes south...well...at least our parents and friends will still be around, right?"

"Exactly," Rhea agreed, "So...next question...where do we transport this device? If I judge it correctly there is enough force contained within its core to wipe out a small moon..."

"What about that Subspace thingie you've been taking me to?" Muku asked, "If it goes off in there will it affect anything on this side?"

Rhea considered the point and said, "I...don't really know...but...there is one other possibility. If we do translate it into subspace...if we had a target to aim for...we could project it through a secondary gate, and...perhaps we might find a target more worthy of destruction."

"Worth a try, right?" Muku asked, "And like you said, not many alternatives...so...you call it, Rhea-chan. I'll back you all the way."

Rhea felt the warming glow of her partner's praise and smiled at this before saying, "All right, Darling...we'll do this together...as one unit."

That said she composed herself and crossed her arms over her chest, closing her eyes as she mentally focused on her connection to her Iczer Robo, Gamma-Theta, then began to glow softly as the Iczerio force rose within her and she mentally chanted the words, **GAMMA THETA-COME FORTH!**

Down far below them, still locked in the temporal freeze that was affecting the entire complex of New Gamora city, Gamma Theta responded in its massive cradle, systems flaring to life as it phased out from normal Timespace and heeded the summons of its Mistress. All at once it phased out of Gamma base and reappeared in the sky directly overhead next to Rhea and Muku, remaining partially out of phase with the space all around it as it matched resonances with both human and Iczer.

The next thing she knew Muku found herself once more inside the chest capsule of the massive living robot, and she could feel Rhea's connection with her grow even stronger through the medium of the Iczer Robo's natural channeling systems. It was like having a warm glow in her chest and the feeling of the other's warmth inside her made Muku glow with internal delight, feeling almost as close to Rhea as when they had been making love only minutes before this. She could feel at one with everything around her, including Gamma-Theta, which felt now like an extension of her own body magnified to a degree that seemed to make everything come alive and in greater focus.

"Prepare yourself, my Love," Rhea spoke with warm affection, "This will require precise focus and concentration, and if it works...if we survive this..."

"We'll survive it, Honey," Muku replied with unshakable conviction, "We have to do this, it's what good guys do all the time, right? And what's a hero without a happy ending?"

"It is not the ending that troubles me, Muku-chan," Rhea replied, "It is the road that brought us here that is important, and I would have no one else as my partner in this hour. We do this together, and we will prevail...I swear it."

With that declaration Rhea focused once again and directed her energies at the frozen ball that was the motionless bomb hovering in the air above Tokyo, reaching out to feel the space surrounding it as she sensed the Temporal frequency and put a lock on it, intending to hold it as it was until the final instant. With no other recourse and a very slim margin for error, she began focusing on phasing the space around the bomb without disturbing the huge thing as she willed for it and their Iczer to be elsewhere. Everything depended on the precise timing of the thing, and if they failed...there would be no second chances. Therefore they had to succeed...there was nothing else to be said or done about this.

Muku felt what Rhea was attempting to do without fully understanding the process, and at once she leant her own mind into reinforcing Rhea's efforts. Slowly they felt the shift begin to take place as the space around them shifted, and suddenly became the tinted coloration that Muku had come to associate with subspace transfer.

"So far so good," Rhea remarked in a level tone that barely hinted at the great effort which she was employing to hold the Timefield around the device steady, "But if we drop this thing now as it is, there might be sufficient force to be felt on the other side of the Subspace field..."

Muku's heightened senses suddenly made her aware of a peculiar shift in energy that was slightly off to her right, and by turning her mind in that direction she was able to perceive a strange energy ring that was hovering in the air, supported by nothing, at which point she said, "What about that?"

Rhea instantly knew what her partner intended and said, "It's a portal to the other side...but not back to Earth. I don't know what is beyond this, but...I suppose it is as good a place as any..."

Already their grip over the bomb was faltering, so Rhea and Muku willed the thing in that direction, Iczer Gamma-Theta translating their combined energies into a massive force that pushed the ball-like object along until it was at the threshold of the portal, at which point it collided with a second energy field, which collapsed the integrity of the Temporal shield holding the bomb in stasis, and in that instant the device reverted to normal time, it's internal mechanism inexorably completing a three-second count down until it core became fully active, at which point it detonated with the explosive power of a thousand solar flares, which at point-blank range might as well have been a super-nova.

"Watch out!" Rhea frantically cried, "It's going to-!"

And then the world went white and the rest...was silence...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Cataclysmic Cliffhangers: shadowmane

Hot enough for you yet? It's about to get hotter as Iczer Two faces down Big Gold while the rest of the Iczers have a final reckoning with Neos Gold and the Lords of the Heavens. Tune in next time for: "Explosive Resolutions," or, "The Big Blow-Out!" Be there!

X -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	41. Chapter 41

Earthchild41

The Earthchild

(An Iczer/Sailor Moon/Ranma Crossover)

by Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi,  
Naoko Takeuchi, Toshihiro Hirano,  
&amp; Hitoshi Okuda, with ideas and suggestions by TH Tiger and Johannes Huber)

Chapter Forty-One

"Is this the best that you can do, false Mother?" Iczer Two asked in cold disdain for the deadly array of defensive systems that were pointed right at her.

"It is more than adequate for dealing for most ordinary nuisances, true," Big Gold replied, "But you deserve a special fate for all the trouble that you have caused me, Daughter...and I assure you, I most certainly am your mother regardless of what those C'thuwulf hags may have said to misinform you."

"You may have created me to be your weapon," Iczer Two replied, "But you are not my mother. I was born from the cellular matter of my real mother, Commander Cobalt. You used the Iczerio to clone me, but I am now and have always been my own woman."

"Not so," Big Gold replied, "Cobalt was merely one half of your parentage...but some of my genetic material was added to your own, making you both a hybrid and-  
-in a very real sense-my biological daughter."

"I see," Iczer Two said grimly, lowering her gaze, "Then what I have suspected all alone is true...but it amounts to nothing. You may have helped to give me life, but it was a life devoted to the service of your evil, and I was never truly alive under you. I was flawed and imperfect..."

"You were perfection!" Big Gold countered, "You may bear the taint of humanity, but you are far more than Cobalt could ever have been, and she was the best of what the C'thuwulf had to offer. I know not why you turned against me, but while you were in my service you were my greatest of creations..."

"Then why was I so handily defeated by my sister?" Iczer Two replied, "If I was so much superior to her construction, why did she thrice defeat me in battle?"

"I do not know," Big Gold replied, "It has perplexed me all these years, this riddle of how Iczer One could have bested you, though I suspect it had something to do with the human with whom she was partnered. Kano Nagisa was most exceptional for a human...though not much to look at on the surface, she had resources that allowed her to tap into the Iczerio to a degree not known by other humans..."

"Other humans have since proven to be just as adept as she at providing an interface for the Iczerio," Iczer Two contradicted, "But then again...by now you already have learned that."

"Yes," Big Gold replied, "An oversight that I did not foresee this, that humanity might breed others who had the same potential as Nagisa. But still there is time enough to correct that oversight, and once I have the other partners under my control..."

"Forget about that," Iczer Two replied, "You are through making decisions that affect the lives of others...Mother. I am here to put an end to your career once and forever..."

"A mighty boast," Big Gold sneered, "But do you honestly think that you have what it takes to defeat your own mother?"

"I know that I bear the shame of having been created by you," Iczer Two replied, "To have the taint of your genes polluting my matrix is abhorrent to my very nature. You are a filthy virus with delusions of godhood, a failed experiment gone horribly awry, the ghost of a long dead race whose folly lead to their own destruction. And yes...I know beyond question that I have what it takes to bring an end to you, Mother. You are a flawed embarrassment and you will taint the lives of innocent people no more..."

"Now you go too far," Big Gold hissed, "I am more than merely some virus implanted in the seed of a long-extinct race, Daughter. I have incorporated the knowledge of the C'thuwulf into my very being..."

"But nothing of their heart," Iczer Two replied, "Nothing of the soul of what means to be C'thuwulf. No sense of art or culture, no understanding of what it means to be alive, to have value and purpose. You are cold and unfeeling, a cancer in the very bosom of this world..."

"SILENCE!" Big Gold imperiously declared, "I will hear no more of your insolence! Daughter or not, you are here to be recycled, nothing more, and I will decide what is to be your fate and what form you shall next take when I use you to destroy those pitiful humans you embrace as your pets..."

"With what?" Iczer Two said scornfully, "The humans you so despise have a term for this, Mother...you and what army?"

"DIE!" Big Gold declared, unleashing the defensive weaponry of her audience chamber at Iczer Two, both energy bursts and tensor fields that would have reduced even a combat Mechanoid to constituent DNA, but when the lightning show had passed and the haze of ozone was subsided Iczer Two remained calmly where she was, not even slightly affected.

"I repeat my earlier query," Iczer Two remarked, "Is that really the best that you can do...Mother?"

Rather than react in surprise Big Gold merely narrowed her eyes and said, "Impressive...you withstood enough force to tear even your Iczer Robo to pieces...your strength has increased geometrically from what I remember..."

"The that you knew died long ago," Iczer Two replied, "She died in battle with my sister...I am the Phoenix that rose from the ashes to replace her."

"Neos thought she had a use for you," Big Gold remarked, "What a pity you disappointed her, just as you disappointed me, though I fail to understand why you would squander your strength helping those weak and genetically flawed humans..."

"You wish to know why?" Iczer Two replied, "The answer is that I love humanity, and I love them even when they are weak and flawed, imperfect and inferior...because in each and every human there exists the spark for greatness."

"Rubbish!" Big Gold sneered, "They prey upon each other like wolves, victimizing the weak so that the strong may rise and assume a place in their social hierarchy. They coddle the worthless dregs who infest their slums, squander resources on the old and decrepit, nurture the genetically flawed and spurn the very science that could make their lives richly better if they would only cast off their maudlin sentimentality and superstitious dread of ancient tribal spirits. Even their leaders are chosen from the inbred cast of social parasites they call their elite ruling classes, and in the end they are selfish, petty, short-sighted individualists without a dram of social cohesiveness for all their pretense towards an overarching corporate structure..."

"There are such imperfections in humanity in a general sense," Iczer Two noted, "But you see only the reflection of your own warped values. There is far more to humanity than you can ever know...so much of life that is beyond your understanding, your weak grasp of the true nature of the Iczerio, and your limited perceptions of worth and relativism."

"You think to lecture me about these primitive creatures?" Big Gold scoffed.

"I think to do so would be a waste of time since you are incapable of grasping even the most elementary concept of what it means to be alive," Iczer Two replied, "For I would be lecturing to the mother of all Parasites, and that is true folly."

"Now you truly are becoming quite annoying," Big Gold sneered, "I know all that I need to know of humanity in order to rule them. But come, Daughter...do not scorn what I am and what I have accomplished. See here...this is but one complex of many through which I control a whole world. From here I have mastered the resources of an entire planet, converted entire cities into factories and have evolved myself to my present ultimate structure..."

"You boast of this?" Iczer Two disdained, "What of the lives you have ruined in order to achieve your goals? What of the humans who slave in your gene factories as workers and drones? What care you of the breeding stock that you use to perpetuate your army? Is humanity nothing more to you than yet another resource to be exploited and discarded? Do you see nothing more in their individual lives than yet another tool to be serviced and squandered?"

"That is their function in this world," Big Gold replied, "They are graced to service my need for raw genetic material with which to create my legions. They should feel graced to be found useful at all when I harvested this world and made it the new seat of my absolute power..."

"They would be better graced by death," Iczer Two pronounced, "But then again...that is the true secret behind this chamber of horrors that you call your citadel of power. None of this is truly real...this is a shadow world created by your out of the raw clay of subspace using the imprint of the former reality that my sister left behind when she recreated reality and excluded you from it!"

"You know this much?" Big Gold's eyes narrowed even more, "Then you know why I must conquer and dominate the Earth plane..."

"Because this reality is unstable," Iczer Two explained, "It is held together mainly by the force of your will, and were it to come apart then you would have nothing, no reality whatsoever, and might even cease to exist with all the rest of your creations."

"I am not a flawed and helpless being who can be put aside like that!" Big Gold haughtily declared, "I am the Incarnation, the very embodiment of the World Computer left behind on the now-extinct C'thuwulf homeworld..."

"You are nothing more than the corruption that infested a clone of our chief scientist the true Gold, in whose image you were copied," Iczer Two scoffed, "My sister was right to exile you to this Null space that is your prison. Such a thing as you has no right to even exist in our world, no more than you have any right to inflict your poisonous presence on our reality..."

"And what of you, Daughter?" Big Gold countered, "Do you have any right to exist since you are dependant on my having existed for your very creation?"

For the first time Iczer Two hesitated, but only for a second, "It is true...Neos Gold reconstituted me from the ashes of this shadow-world that I might serve her, the true legacy of your infection of the homeworld. I should not even exist given the logic that I was born to be your champion...but my reality was affirmed through the use of the Iczerio. I was given new life by the source of all the C'thuwulf power, and when I met my partner...then I truly became alive. I exist now because I define myself by what I am and by my actions, by the people whom I interact with and who acknowledge my existence. As such I have far more right to exist than you, and I have a place in the greater scheme of things. I am the Defender of life, and I live to protect my chosen people."

"A noble speech," Big Gold disdained, "A pity such sentiments are wasted."

Once again the concealed weapons within the room came into play, gravity generators and force protectors that battered down upon the Iczer without warning or relent...but all this did was cause Iczer Two to square her stance and cross her arms over her chest, holding on in spite of the crushing pressure and ignoring the bombardment of the energies being directed upon her.

"How do you like the feeling of one hundred time the gravity of Earth being employed against you, Daughter?" Big Gold sneered, "A single strand of your hair now weighs the equivalent of a ton, and were I not reinforcing the floor beneath you your feet would go crashing down to the Earth's core. Shall I make the pressure even more terrible...say a thousand times Earth's gravity? Even more?"

Iczer Two made a small sound as she felt herself being slammed by the new energies, but again she held out and ignored the crushing pressure, summoning her Iczerio Ki and drawing upon the true source of her internal power, the warming glow that was Sayoko.

All at once she cried out and threw her hands wide, unleashing her power in a massive burst that reverse the flow of the room's energy and bent the gravity and force projectors against themselves so that they shorted out altogether.

"WHAT?" Big Gold reacted, "But how...?"

"Pitiful fool," Iczer Two said contemptuously, "Do you think your petty treachery could impress me? You are playing well beyond your ken, Virus, if you think to bring to bear sufficient energy to match what I have become."

"Your strength...it far exceeds that of any mere Iczer," Big Gold surmised, "But how? You could only be drawing this power from a direct line to your partner, but I know that she is not with you now...or is she? Can it be? Even you would not be that ruthless..."

"Try me," Iczer Two made a point of cracking her knuckles, "Do you recall the power that defeated you once in the past? The same power that remade an entire world and excluded you from it?"

"You are synchronized?" Big Gold sounded more awed than frightened, "Then you are the very embodiment of the power..."

"I am far more than you could ever hope to understand," Iczer Two replied, "I am the true incarnation, the living embodiment of the Iczerio itself, and as such your executioner...Mother...!"

Saying this Iczer Two balled a fist and drove it forward, only to encounter resistance as yet another field of energy sprang up in the space before her, a force that resisted even the incredible discharge of energy that she unleashed in the next second.

This time it was Iczer Two who expressed surprise, "What...?"

All at once a hand gripped her...a hand as large as her head, and Big Gold gripped her daughter tightly by the throat, lifting her from the floor with an ease that an adult might display with a mere child, her body being huge and massive, far larger than Iczer Two at over nine feet in height.

"Did you think I had learned nothing in over twenty earth years of planning?" Big Gold sneered, throwing her own fist forward and unleashing a blast far more intense than what Iczer Two had used against her. But-to her amazement-  
Iczer Two twisted out of her grip and planted a kick that connected solidly with her head and forced the giant Incarnation to stagger several steps backwards.

"I had been prepared for that possibility, yes," Iczer Two smiled confidently, "But it hardly matters if you think that you are prepared to do battle with me. I am still beyond your understanding, Old Woman, and I know that whatever you try will still avail you nothing."

Big Gold roared as she charged her body up and fired a point-blank burst that would have exploded through a moon-sized object and did considerable damage to one portion of the throne chamber, literally bursting a wall outward, though her actual target was nowhere within the radius of destruction. The golden hued giant barely had time to register this when Iczer Two appeared directly behind her, and then the redhead plunged her own fists forward, driving her hands at great speed to land a series of focused blows all along he length of Big Gold's undefended backside.

"KACHU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN RYU!" she cried as a final fist sent Big Gold hurtling into the roof of her own citadel, the very force of her blows ringing like the sonic boom of a speeding comet. Big Gold barely at time to rebound off the ceiling, surprised more than stunned at the sudden abuse that she had taken, only to find the knee of her reputed daughter being driven into the small of her back with force enough to bend her spine double. She only had a moment to register this fact when Iczer Two was suddenly above her and driving both fists together in a piledriver smash that sent the golden Incarnation crashing through the floor and into the underground basement.

Iczer Two teleported to where her foe finally came to a rest, seeing the giant pick herself up off the floor with dismay plain enough in her expression. Though yet sneering and haughty, there was new appreciation of just how formidable her own creation had become, though disbelief yet prevented her from accepting the fact that she was vastly overmatched in this encounter.

"You truly are a fool if you think this will defeat me," Big Gold sneered.

"And you truly are a fool if you believe that you have any chance of defeating me," Iczer Two countered, "For ten years I have been preparing myself to defeat you. Even though I did not believe you still lived, still some part of me knew that the Virus that made you would not die as easily as had seemed to be the case. In truth, you have lived up to my worst expectations of you, Mother, and that is why you must be destroyed utterly this time. I have anticipated you well and now stand ready to defeat you."

Big Gold rose to her feet and sneered, "Then take your best shot at me, Daughter."

"All right," Iczer Two brought her hands together and cupped them into a ball, forming a sphere of force between her hands as she said, "I will!"

The giant tensed in readiness to meet this new attack, but to her surprise the Bioroid aimed her energy ball not at the obvious target but rather at a nearby wall, the force released shattering through steel and reinforced bio-plastics as if they were mere paper and wood projects on a Hollywood soundstage, revealing the chamber beyond, which had been concealed behind the false partition.

"NO!" Big Gold roared as she realized the true intentions of her opponent, but when she tried to close upon the Iczer, her foe savagely back-handed her and sent the golden giant crashing backward the full length of the complex. A second hurled energy ball was sent hurtling after her, to explode moments later with force enough to send Iczer Two's hair whipping sideways.

"As I said, a foolish gesture," Iczer Two remarked as she strode forward, entering the adjoining room and at once taking in the vast array of machinery before turning her eyes at a single egg-shaped cubicle held suspended within a high-tech assembly.

"Nagisa..." Iczer Two stared in undisguised horror at the body floating inside the bio-preservative chamber, a body rent and abuse from years of organ harvesting and cellular plunder, not even truly alive in her state of non-  
decomposition, but surely not living with so many important pieces missing.

"I am impressed, Daughter," a new voice said resonantly from a larger wall complex off to one side, "You found your way here against all my probable calculations."

"It was easy enough to deduce that you were not fool enough to manifest yourself directly in an audience chamber, Mother," Iczer Two replied, cold fury making her words seem devoid of actual emotion, "Your little trick of hiding behind the curtain while that useless Puppet of yours performed as a distraction could not deceive me for very long. I knew before coming here that you have had many years to prepare for such a one as I to come pay you a visit, and I have had the benefit of probing the memories of at least some of your agents to learn the pertinent details that I needed in order to interface with your computer systems."

"You mean...you hacked into my database?" Big Gold seemed genuinely surprise at this revelation.

"I only had to keep you talking while I scanned this complex to determine where the real you was hiding," Iczer Two replied, "Fortunately I do know how you love the sound of your own voice, and while you thought you had me at a disadvantage I was planning each move with the aim of finding this complex."

"And now that you are here?" Big Gold remarked.

"Now is where it ends," Iczer Two replied, turning a sad look towards Nagisa, "And where twenty years and more of injustice finally meet their resolution. It is for this purpose that I linked with Sayoko, to fully Synchronize so that we could defeat you together."

"You...you cannot do that!" Big Gold declared as she belatedly realized what the Iczer was intending.

Iczer Two's hand flashed forward and an explosive force roiled down her arm and off the tips of her fingers in a wave of force that took out more than half of the underground complex. When at last the dust and plasma settled there was an extremely large hole where Nagisa's remains had been floating, to say nothing of the machinery that had sustained her. A look of infinite sadness was in the crimson eyes of her executioner as Iczer Two softly murmured, "Goodbye, old friend...rest in peace...you have earned it."

An incoherent cry rose up from within the machinery complex on Big Gold's end of the room, and all at once panels slid back and revealed a complex of machinery from which a cradle emerged, a huge hand reaching out to snare Iczer Two in its grip before she had time to avoid it as a crab-shaped Mecha bearing Big Gold's incarnation snarled viciously, "YOU WILL PAY FOR DOING THAT! FOR THIS YOU WILL TRULY SUFFER!"

"More theatrics, Old Woman?" Iczer Two glared as she felt the crushing force applied to her body, but with a single surge of effort she freed her arms and shattered the hand that had held her, moving in closer to the chest of the Mecha and ripping it apart with her bare hands as though it were a child's toy cobbled together from used pieces.

Inside was revealed yet another Bioroid Avatar of the sinister Virus, and this one had only seconds to live before Iczer Two drove her beam-saber clean through the head, then moving it to bisect the incarnation as the rest of the Mecha fell away into pieces.

Iczer Two then turned to confront the chamber beyond where this guardian had been situated and said, "It is over...you have lost."

"FOOL!" echoed the booming voice of a computer-generated image, "I AM PART AND PARCEL OF THIS WORLD! I INHABIT EVERY FRAME AND CENTIMETER! I AM THE PLANET DOWN TO ITS VERY CORE! DESTROYING A MERE ASPECT OF ME WILL NOT HARM MY ULTIMATE NATURE!"

"Yes, I know," Iczer Two replied, "This world is your creation, it is a shadow-  
realm created by your malevolence and you infest it with your evil, but that is your mistake and your ultimate undoing."

"EH?" the malevolent image glaring down at her with hate and cunning, "WHAT ARE YOU-"

Iczer Two did not waste further words as she rushed into the chamber, encountering a wall of heavy forcefield resistance as she threw herself into the task of overcoming these last defenses. Slowly by inches she moved nearer to her goal with her fist aimed squarely at the center of the image.

All at once tentacle-like arms snared out to wrap around her, energy coils that caught Iczer Two in their grip and pulled her back from the energy field with titanic might that threatened to crush her or rip her to pieces.

"YOU THINK YOU CAN DESTROY ME?" Big Gold sneered, "I AM ETERNAL! I CAN NEVER BE DESTROYED!"

To her surprise Iczer Two just smiled, grit her teeth and said, "That is where you are wrong, Mother. You are already dead...you just don't realize it yet."

"EH?" something in that confident declaration caused Big Gold to divert her attention away from her immobilized daughter to sense an anomaly that was disturbing her consciousness. To her dismay she found that many systems were already off-line, and that entire sections were shutting down as though something were interfering with her controls and rendering numerous systems non-  
responsive.

"WHAT HAVE YOU...?" she started to ask when the answer came to her, "YOUR ICZER-  
ROBO!"

"Precisely!" Iczer Two declared with a triumphal smirk, "You fell for one of the oldest tricks in the book, Mother...bait and switch. While you diverted attention towards me, my Beta Unit has been initiating the true threat against you. We call it the Anti-Gold Virus...and I think you will find it is most effective."

"NNNNOOOOOOOO!" Big Gold cried out as she finally realized the magnitude of her error. She had been secretly sending out her tendrils and drones in an attempt to absorb the giant Mecha, and she had been amazed at how little was the resistance guarding its onboard systems, so much so that she had thought to take it over.

Only now she realized just who exactly had been taken to the cleaners with this scheme. As her units had been working to absorb the giant Mecha, the Mecha's own onboard systems had been pumping out different components of the Anti-Virus, allowing those to be integrated into those systems used to probe its memory and database, fragments which-when combined-formed like a binary component of a far larger set of command routines. To her amazement she found herself staring at the virtual equivalent of a multi-headed Hydra, a complex array of diabolically clever subroutines that shorted out and canceled every bit of Gold's personality matrix that these rapidly disseminating worm programs encountered.

"You are dying, Old Woman," Iczer Two informed her, "Betrayed by your own treachery...and the irony of it is that a mere human designed this program...and that you let it into your own Matrix! You have passed it along through your own filters, and now that it is within you it is spreading to infect every part of your overall system!"

"YOU DID THIS TO ME!" Big Gold cried in outrage, seeking to redouble her effort as she coiled her magnetically controlled tendrils and sought to tear her synthetic daughter apart, "DIE, DAMN YOU, DIE!"

To her amazement Iczer Two flexed her arms and tore those tentacles out of their moorings, crying out, "I HAVE NO INTENTION OF DYING AT YOUR HANDS, OLD WOMAN-  
BUT YOU CAN TASTE MY FINAL GIFT TO YOU, CARE OF THE WOMAN I LOVE MORE THAN MY OWN LIFE! CHOKE ON THIS-THE HUMANITY YOU SPURN-AT THE HANDS OF A FULLY SYNCHRONIZED ICZER!"

With that she plunged her fist into the matrix of the Virtual Big Gold, unleashing the emotions that she had been holding in check the entire time, for the first time allowing herself to experience the full range of sensations that Sayoko had given her, which flowed through her systems into Gold's fragmenting profiles and brought the final touch needed to the Anti-Virus, causing a cascade effect that traversed the entire system...

"There's no end to these guys!" Kiiro declared as she sliced through her ten-  
thousandth Venomoid, by now inured to the way the creatures howled while they burst into a stinking mass of putrid slime and gristle.

"The Commander has been taking her time in there, don't you think?" Kawai noted with some strain to her voice, "How long do you think it should take to destroy a simple virus?"

"Long enough that I'd wager she's nearly finished," Nami remarked as she ripped through a Void with her energized fist, "But I'll admit...this is a little more action than even I'm used to handling...and I doubt we can keep this up for much longer. Truly the legions of gold are without number..."

"Yes, and every one of these...things...represents a human life corrupted," Kiiro snarled in disgust as she sent her boomerangs arching again to shatter a grouping of enemy Geos, "Who knows how many humans she keeps penned up as slaves in her body banks and gene pits? Raw material for her processors..."

"Horrible," Kawai said as she energized her twin Force-blasters to slice through a lumbering Mecha, "Death would be preferable to living like that..."

"No argument there," Nami agreed, "What this world needs is the cleansing fire of a good...eh?" she whirled about, "Something's coming through the portal...?"

The next thing any of them knew the world went white before their eyes as the portal which they had been guarding opened up like a massive cannon firing the force of a lethal burst that consumed everything in its wake with the fury of ten thousand simultaneously exploding nuclear warheads...

Down below Iczer Two had only a moment to contemplate her victory over Big Gold when she felt the shockwave passing through her and knew in an instant that death itself had arrived to claim the entire planet. The next moment the complex was entirely consumed in fire that reduced everything to mere ashes and sent a larger chain reaction into effect that would in turn be felt throughout the whole of the shadow-planet...

"Ooops," Muku blinked her eyes, looking around at a void suddenly cleared of all identifiable matter, "Something tells me we just blew it..."

"That is an affirmative," she heard Rhea reply with a note of disquiet in her voice, "The weapon detonated prematurely...but-fortunately for us-most of the energy was released into the portal itself, which seems to have contained and channeled the blast onto whatever lay on the other side. I just hope that no one was hurt by this...though I fear that an explosion of such magnitude will have dire consequences for anything within its radius of effect."

"In other words we boo-booed," Muku translated, "Well...at least we're still alive...I think. Where the heck is this place anyway?"

"We still in Subspace, my Love," Rhea replied, "Only the explosion disrupted the integrity of the nearby landscape...that is why we are seeing nothing all around us for many kilometers...matter in this realm is subject to the rules of the mind, and without a mind to hold and focus the illusion the substance dissipates into its natural free-flowing state."

"You mean...this stuff can be used to shape almost anything?" Muku wondered.

"Well," Rhea gently smiled as she allowed, "Anything that can be imagined by a mind that is sufficiently powerful to affect the flow of thought-form energy that exists within this system..."

"So thinking stuff hard enough can make it happen here," Muku reflected, "I wonder what all that could mean...the possibilities..."

Rhea suddenly noticed something flashing on her sensors and said, "Hold up on that thought, Muku-chan, I'm detecting several energy signatures in the midst of the disruption...they're Iczelions...and one full-fledged Iczer..."

"I'm reading you," Muku did not even bother to question her own growing proficiency in interpreting and operating the controls from her chest-capsule station, it seemed that she only had to think about something and the Iczer Robo responded to her commands and supplied her with the information that she needed, "Four figures...all of them familiar-looking...HEY! Aren't those...?"

"Aunts Nami, Kawai and Kiiro," Rhea replied with growing concern, "And...Aunt Two! But what could have happened to them? Their energy levels have been badly depleted..."

"Not your Aunt," Muku corrected, "I'm still making her energy levels out at...is this right? That's even greater than your mother's!"

"It's a mystery all right," Rhea remarked, steering their Iczer Robo in the direction of the hapless Iczelion crew, "But I intend to find out right away. Something happened on the other side of that portal, something powerful enough to knock out the most powerful of our Iczelions and leave my Aunts in a semi-  
conscious state..."

"Something...like that explosion we caused?" Muku reasoned.

"Exactly," Rhea smiled with mild irony, stretching out the hand of her Iczer-  
Robo to catch the tumbling, weightless forms of Gold, Silver and Black Iczelions, then employed her other hand to draw Iczer Two closer through the use of a tractor field.

"So...you're saying they were on the other side, huh?" Muku asked, "Won't they be, like...kind of cross with us for kind-of lobbing that bomb at them...?"

"That is a possibility," Rhea replied, "But it does open up a number of other questions...which might be better solved if we take them back with us to New Gamora for some quick healing..."

"Ah..." Iczer Two suddenly moaned as she stirred in the palm of the giant Mecha's hand, then she pushed herself into a sitting position and said, "Save your concerns for the others, Niece...I am...functional enough to proceed on my own power..."

"You're all right?" Muku asked.

"Evidently," Iczer Two glanced at her own arms then turned to regard the two partners looking down at her from their respective cabins, "No rest for the wicked it would seem...and by your comments shall I take it to mean that we owe it to you two for that blast that destroyed the Shadow-world that Gold had created?"

"I'm afraid so, Aunt Two," Rhea replied, "We had this bomb that gold was dropping on our city..."

"And you thought to return the package to its sender," Iczer Two replied with a smile, "How apropos...and poetic justice all around. You did well, Niece...and your mothers will be very proud to hear of your actions."

"Thank you, Auntie," Rhea said, "But...what happened? Did you have a fight with Big Gold?"

"I did," Iczer Two replied, "And you need no worry about her any more. She will not be troubling anyone...ever again."

"You destroyed her?" Muku asked.

"In a sense she destroyed herself," Iczer Two replied, glancing away, "But I was the instrument of her demise...and since a part of her is in me, it was her own hand that did the deed...that and one other...whose noble sacrifice deserves to be honored."

The pair was about to ask in unison what the Bioroid meant when they sensed the approach of a ball of blue-white energy that hovered in the air and approached Iczer Two, who stretched out her hand and absorbed it into herself like magic.

Iczer Two then clenched that hand and brought it up to her body, murmuring softly, "Thank you, Iczer Beta, for your efforts in destroying our enemy by the forfeiting of your mortal shell. You will live again my other self, this I swear...you and Sayoko, who gave me the strength to triumph over our enemy and to redeem the souls of those who perished at Gold's hands...including Nagisa..."

"What was that?" Rhea asked, "What about my mother?"

"She's fine," Iczer Two turned and smiled at her Niece's capsule, "Sorry to worry you, there's nothing for you to be concerned about, Rhea-chan. I am just saying goodbye to the ghosts of my own past, the better to move on to the more important subject of our future."

"So...it's all over...and we can go home now, huh?" Muku asked.

"Unfortunately no," Iczer Two's tone became more grim, "There is still the less critical matter of Neos Gold to be dealt-with...but I sense this is a matter that will be resolving itself very shortly."

"Eh?" Muku blinked, then turned her attention elsewhere as she said, "Rhea-  
chan...over there! Do you sense what I'm picking up, Honey?"

"I...see it, Muku-chan," Rhea replied, "Something is happening in that section of Subspace...but what...?"

"Retribution," Iczer Two replied, "I believe we are about to witness more history in the making. We had better hurry if we don't want to be late for this party..."

Some Minutes before this occurred...

"Neos Gold," one of the two Tenma's whispered, "We're really in for it this time...she's the worst of Big Gold's servants..."

"Yeah, we've met," the other Tenma replied, "She's bad news all right, but no tougher than any other baddy who thinks she's got the upper hand here."

"Is that a fact?" Ranma said as he cracked his knuckles and looked confidently at the enemy Bioroid, "Doesn't look so tough..."

"Looks can be deceiving, Sugar," Ukyo cautioned, "Remember Saffron? You thought he looked pretty goofy the first time we met that Jackass."

"She is...bad news all right, Lady Saotome," Atros cautioned, "And you will only hurt yourselves in attempting to face her in battle. She has destroyed entire worlds in the pursuit of her own self-aggrandization."

"Atros," Neos said haughtily, "I killed you much too quickly the last time. This time I will see to it that you suffer pain and humiliation to compensate for a lifetime!"

With but a mere thought she directed a stream of energy particles into a devastating blast aimed at Atros and where she was standing, but Ken stepped in front of his partner and suddenly the air around him formed into an energy globe that disrupted the attack and harmlessly deflected it away from the others nearest to him, including Atros and the Saotomes.

"Unit Seventy Two-charge up!" he cried, and the robotic form beside him flew apart, the different components attaching themselves to his suddenly-nude body (which afforded the people nearest to him-Atros in particular-a very good study of his backside and profile).

"I see," Neos Gold remarked as she saw the armored man now standing protectively between her and Atros, "You have found a protector, and a mere human at that..."

"That's right," Ken replied, looking much taller and more impressive in his Iczelion armor, "A mere human that's going to kick your butt if you try anything more like that against Atros-san!"

"Atros-san?" Ukyo repeated.

"You got a few secrets you've been keeping from Sakura, Guy?" Ranma asked.

"Actually, Sir, she knows all about it," Ken replied, "But now's not the time for explanations..."

"Neos-Sama!" Godai spoke up, "Let me deal with this Scum! I defeated him before, and now I'll be certain to finish the task once and for good!"

"You're welcome to try," Ken adopted a fighting stance, "But it won't be that easy the second time around, Baka, and you're more likely to get hurt, like Gel-  
san."

Godai cast his sister to one side and his body became more heavily armored than before, an energy sword flashing up in both hands as she cried angrily, "I WILL DESTROY YOU FOR THAT! YOU ARE DEAD, TOFU-SAN, DO YOU HEAR ME?"

With a leaping cry he brought the energy blade down and struck the Earth where Ken had been standing, but the armored male Iczelion easily vaulted into the air and hovered out of reach, even as Atros moved to the side and the rest of their group vaulted backwards and to the sides to put themselves and the non-  
combatants out of the immediate sphere of action.

"Interesting," Neos mused, "A battle between men, I take it...is this what they call a cock-fight, and are they fighting over you, Atros-san? How refreshingly primitive..."

Atros glared at her nominal "creator" and grit her teeth in rage though she felt inadequate to the task of taking her on by her lonesome. Even as she thought this, however, she felt her energy levels begin to surge from within, and for a moment this distracted her so that she was taken by surprise as Neos appeared behind her and made a downward slash that would have surely taken her out if the energized fist had actually connected.

But Neos had not taken into account the presence of the others, having dismissed them out of hand as "mere humans" and thus not worthy of serious attention. Therefore the kick to her masked face came as a complete surprise, landing as it did totally out of the blue as Ranma had been fast to react with more power to his blow than would have been seriously credited. The towering Neos actually staggered backward, sparing Atros to gasp as she too had not believed a mere human capable of such an unbelievable feat.

"You-DARE-do that to me?" Neos cried as she reared back and readied to rid herself of the annoying "insect" standing so insolently in her path.

"Hey, don't take us guys so lightly," Ranma grinned as he adopted a classic combat posture, "I don't like fighting with girls, but then again, you ain't no lady."

"DIE!" Neos Gold cried as she unleashed sufficient energy to level a large city, only to find her blast returned on her with redoubled force as a barrier sprang up to block her off from her intended targets.

Neos staggered backward at this and stared in disbelief at the solid wall of crystalline matter that had sprung up in her path without apparent cause and warning.

"WHAT-?" she reacted.

"Surprised?" Tenma asked, "Bet you never expected that from any mere human, huh?"

"How could you-?" Neos started to ask when a flashing energy sword slashed dangerously near to her, causing Neos to erect her own shielding as Atros took the offensive, finally losing all restraint and attacking the one she had once referred to as her "Mother."

"Sis!" cried yet another Iczer from her vantage point inside the chest capsule of the Iczer Robo known as Delos Gamma, only to react with dismay as she felt a solid impact against her Mecha, turning an angry glare to the side and saying, "Not you guys again? Go away and stop bugging me already!"

Yui felt the repeated blows against the armored body of the Mecha she now commanded and said, "What I do to fight back? We can't just stand here and let them pound us!"

"I'm way ahead of you, Gorgeous," Nova replied, "Link with me and I'll show you what to do to get rid of these assholes!"

"How rude of you," said the Bioroid whose name was given as Carbon as she surveyed her own construct as it rained blow after blow against the Delos Gamma, "Forgetting all about us..."

"Not wise to do when we are the ones who will destroy you two," Vine added as she made hand motions that caused her massive plant creation to attack the Iczer Robo from its unprotected backside.

"You are history, you antiquated piece of junk!" Ice declared as her own Frost Giant pounded the Iczer Robo with fists with the size and impact of solid glaciers.

"You three are having way too much fun," Jetstream mused as she watched the trio hammer away at the unresisting Iczer Robo, so she gestured with her own hands and formed a massive tornado-like wind, shaping and focusing it with her hands until the gusts of winds became concentrated funnels of super-intensive energy, and then she directed her creation to strike and those razor-sharp winds lanced out and struck the Delos Gamma in the chest with the force of a sword-thrust.

"OW!" Yui winced, "I actually felt that!"

"Right," Nova replied, "The other guys don't hit as hard as they think they do, but that one's the real problem. Makes you kind of mad having the four of them gang up on the two of us, huh?"

"Mad?" Yui grit her teeth as she felt her rage bubbling up inside her, "I'm ANGRY!"

"Then let it all loose, Girlfriend!" Nova urged, "Let Delos Gamma turn your emotions into raw power, and use it to sweep these losers into the garbage heap...see what I'm thinking?"

Yui felt the mental image spring up in her mind and at once responded with an enthusiastic, "RIGHT!"

If there is one thing in all creation that is remarkably easy to do, it is to make a Hibiki angry, and at that moment Yui was VERY, VERY super-annoyed at being used like a punching bag, and that fury became a flame that burned the air all around the giant Mecha, and all at once that flame erupted into a blazing inferno that rocketed out from the radial point that was the Delos Gamma, catching the other constructs in its all-consuming embrace.

"WHAT-?" Carbon recoiled in unfeigned horror as she saw her Carbon Monster burst into flames and explode into oily fragments.

"What power-No way!" Ice cried in disbelief as she saw her creation melt and fall apart into evaporating fragments.

"How can they be doing this?" Jetstream's own cry was drowned out in the roar of hot winds that tore her Tornado creature into mere wisps of butted smoke, "It's impossible! Insane!"

Vine could only scream incoherently in sympathetic pain as her latest plant monster was scorched to a burning cinder.

"YOU ASSHOLES HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU'RE MESSING WITH HERE!" Nova cried out from her capsule before glancing up and saying, "Show 'em why it ain't smart to take us on, Honey-bunch!"

Yui was much too enraged to take issue with the Bioroid for once again taking presumed liberties with her affections, the clear and obvious target of the enemy Bioroids being much too ready at hand as she caused the Iczer Robo to extend an arm while she cried in outraged vengeance, "MARS CELESTIAL FIRE IGNIGHT!"

The four Bioroids very wisely vacated the location where that hand had been pointing, but they were unprepared for the sheer ferocity of the flaming energy burst that lanced out at the virtual ground and caused a virtual volcano to explode where they had been standing. The force alone created a massive shockwave that caught the four in its grip and sent them rocketing in all directions.

"Hah!" Nova sneered, "That'll teach 'em not to mess with us! C'mon, Yui-chan, let's go help my sister and your buds deal with the real nuisance, Neos Gold!"

Yui was far too much into her righteous wrath to refuse such a tempting offer, but as she turned to watch she was struck with the sight of an uneven battle being waged on three fronts, one by Neos Gold and the Saotome clan, the second part being centered around Godai and Ken's private battle, and the third aspect arising as Gel Kuno recovered her wits and prepared to renew her own part in the overall struggle.

"Sister," Perm was urging her recumbent twin, "You must return to us...to me! Please wake up and stop acting like this! You are not in control over your own actions..."

"WRONG!" Gel cried as she continued to lash out at the injured Perm with electrified streamers that sought to entangle and overwhelm her, "I know perfectly well what I am doing, and you-on the other hand-are the one who is woefully misguided!"

Perm was trying her best but was tiring from her purely defensive actions staying one step ahead of the deadly whips that were flailing in her direction. She was still favoring one arm and had no weapons of her own to counter her twin's unorthodox assault. She had attempted to rely upon reason and persuasion to do her fighting, but it had become immediately apparent that her sister was beyond reason...even more than ever since Gold had played around with her perceptions.

It was inevitable that she would eventually stumble and fall, and with Gel turning up the landscape with her attacks, and when Perm fell she was too weak and exhausted to put up much of a struggle.

But this was not true of someone else who had been holding back and watching the whole time, and as Perm braced for what would surely be a painful example of sisterly abuse, she looked up with a start to find the coils being deflected by a whirling staff that caught and turned aside the attack. With a gasp of surprise Perm said, "Great-Great Grandmother?"

"Interesting," Gel remarked as she stared levelly at her nominal elder, "Are you now my enemy, Great-Great Grandmother?"

"I have enough to know the truth of matters here," Cologne replied, "The Gel I know is buried there inside of you, but the creature you have become is a mockery of everything that the Amazons have stood for since time itself began. Therefore I am forced to violate the wishes of my great-granddaughter, your mother, and take an active part in your subdual."

"You think you have what it takes to face me now, Old Woman?" Gel sneered, "You ancient bones will not stand up before my lashes!"

"Is that a fact?" Cologne asked mildly, "Why don't we put this theory to the test, then, if you truly believe that I have nothing to teach you...Great-Great Grandchild..."

Godai was growing frustrated at his inability to land a solid blow against Ken's defenses, their beam sabers catching and deflecting one another in a battle that was as much fought in the air as on the ground, neither one of them gaining a decisive advantage."

"You fight well," Godai sneered, "Better than you ever did in practice..."

"I never had this much riding on the outcome before," Ken replied, "And you'd be amazed what I can do with the right motivation."

"Indeed?" Godai formed a condescending smile as they locked blades together, "And what do you offer as stakes for your side?"

"My life for one thing," Ken replied, bracing himself as the two of them fought to gain the advantage with their blades holding one another in place, "And the affections of a certain lady..."

"Indeed?" Godai remarked, "Then you lose."

With that he vanished in a haze of pixilation, causing Ken to stumble forward while Godai appeared behind him with his saber at the ready, but as he prepared to slash down he suddenly found a hot blade stabbing backward into his chest. The biologically altered Samurai stared wildly down in disbelief at the wound he had just taken as Ken calmly stepped away and withdrew his blade, then turned and smiled at him in a manner that was neither condescending nor friendly.

"I could have laid odds on you trying the same trick twice, stabbing me in the back no less," Tofu remarked as he raised his saber but made no further threatening action, "And you tend to strike slightly to the left and in the blindside of your opponents, which helped me out a lot in knowing just where you'd be standing when I stabbed at you just now. You will notice that I did not strike a vital organ, but that spot is one my armor tells me plays a critical role in maintaining your artificial systems, so taking it out will likely cause a short-out that is system wide, leading to a gradual shutdown of everything but essential systems. Correct me if I'm wrong about that or whether you want to keep things going now that you're the one with the disadvantage."

Godai tried to speak but all he managed to get out was a very faint, "I hate you..." and then he fell face forward, his enhanced body indeed shutting down to where only life-maintaining systems continued to function.

"Yeah, well...I get that a lot," Godai remarked, "And-if you want to know the truth of it-I never much liked you either..."

"BROTHER!" Gel cried out as she sensed her sibling's fall.

"Worry about your own hide, Upstart!" Cologne imperiously commanded as she pressed hard against her transformed kinswoman's defenses.

Neos staggered backward, having taken a spatula to the face, feeling battered and abused from all sides but in no way ready to concede the battle. She stared in disbelief at the members of the Saotome clan presently giving her such a rough time in this surprisingly uneven battle, then at Atros herself, who seemed emboldened by the support which she was receiving. Her greatest disdain and dismay came from the two young boys who coordinated their attacks together, both Tenma and his Doppelganger counterpart, the latter of whom was the greatest surprise in this matter.

"How could you betray me?" Neos snarled, "How can you betray Gold?"

"Hey, Snot-face!" the Doppelganger retorted, "How can you betray somebody who betrays everybody one way or another?"

"Yeah," the real Tenma affirmed, "You bad guys ain't exactly famous for loyalty, so what if he decides to help the good guys?"

Neos reared back on her tail-like lower body, looming at her full height as she snarled, "Then you should know that there is a price to pay for standing against me!"

With that she played her latest trump card, having watched the way the small human girl hung back out of the fray watching everything with rounded eyes, though the lion share of her attention was clearly being directed towards the Doppelganger Tenma.

The Bioroid in question, however, saw the shift in her focus and sensed immediately what she was intending, "NO!" and at once he threw himself with an impossible leap that carried him to Yuki's side, just in time to intercept a massive bolt of energy that would have fried the girl on the spot had he not taken the brunt of the force with his own body.

"NOOO!" Ukyo cried out, seeing what looked like her own son being struck down by a bolt of lightning.

"BASTARD!" Ranma declared as his hands shot forward and he hurled a point-  
blank Mako-Takabishi that caught Neos full in the face and further staggered her backwards.

"That's it, you've had it!" Tenma cried, cupping his hands as an affect he had been working to form was finally ready to be unleashed on its intended target, so he shouted out aloud, "HEY, FRIEZA! WE GOT SOMEBODY HERE WHO THINKS SHE'S TOUGHER AND MEANER THAN YOU ARE!"

To the surprise of everyone a figure shaped something like a lizard with a bulbous head and a tiny little mouth appeared with a strangely off-kilter voice saying, "Oh, she does, does she? Well, we'll just have to see about that..."

"What?" Neos declared in disbelief, only to receive a very solid punch to the chest by the strangely alien being whom Tenma had conjured up from seeming nowhere. A second blow hit even harder and drove the serpentine Bioroid even further back as the creature referred to as "Frieza" continued to hammer away, while Tenma concentrated and coordinated its actions.

"What in the Frel?" Atros asked as she watched the No-Puppet drive her former master on the defensive, unaware as she said this how much she sounded like her real biological mother.

"Don't ask...don't tell," Ken remarked as he came to stand beside her, "Looks like Tenma's made a new friend...sort of. Are you all right?"

For some reason the question both annoyed and pleased Atros as she replied, "Fine...I'm fine...and you?"

"Never better," Ken stared down at the places where he had been wounded earlier, "That regenerator thing of yours is pretty remarkable...just a slight twinge where the muscle's been regrown. Might have scar for a while there, but...that's preferable to the alternative...and besides, you should see the other guy."

"That's...good," Atros said mildly, "Very good..." and then the both of them made a point of glancing off in different directions, the Bioroid coloring slightly.

"It looks bad," Yui said, "Somebody got hurt, and it looks like Godai's down for the count...again."

"Must be a regular thing from him if your memories are right about that clown," Nova replied, "Don't know what that one kid conjured up, but it's keeping Neos plenty busy...won't hold her for long, though, so it looks like we'd better step in and tilt the odds for the good guys..."

"You'll be going up against one of your former allies," Yui noted.

"Hey, it ain't like me and Neos were ever close or nothing," Nova replied, "Besides...you're my family now, and Neos is the worst of Grandma's minions, so-  
-HEY!" she cried out as vines suddenly wrapped themselves around the chest of Delos Gamma.

"What the blazes?" Yui tried burning the vines off, but more of them wrapped around her own cockpit, which began icing up all over, leaving her in no doubt as to the cause of their current troubles.

Nova realized it too, finding the footing of their Iczer Robo glued to the spot by mounds of carbon fibers that had sprung up out of no where.

"AW NO!" Nova winced, "Not those clowns again!"

"You made a mistake turning your back on us," Carbon glared.

"A little setback cannot deter us from prevailing!" Vine seconded.

"No matter how strong you are, we will be your undoing!" Ice predicted.

"The Masters of the Heavens will not allow you to win!" Jetstream boasted, the four of them combining their efforts to bring down the Delos Gamma, and so they were not prepared to be greeted in kind by a casual voice whose disdain was less emphasized, but no less contemptful.

"Masters of the Heavens, You?"

"That is a laugh and a half," another voice seconded.

"EH?" all four Bioroids turned at once, only to be greeted by four others who were smiling back as if sharing a private jest.

One of these gestured with hands that suddenly converted into a pair of oversized blasters.

"SURPRISE!" she declared before unleashing hell on these would-be pretenders...

"Hold on, Sugar," Ukyo pleaded with the young-seeming boy laying across her lap, "You took it pretty bad, but you'll be all right..."

"Thanks...Mom..." the Doppelganger said weakly, looking scorched and bloodied with third degree burns that made it plain that he was in very bad shape, "...That...helps..."

"Ten-chan!" Yuki pleaded, "Don't die! Please, be all right!"

"Hey...you okay, Son?" Ranma asked, sparing a portion of his attention from watching his other son coordinate the Puppet fighting against Neos.

"Kinda...Pop..." the Doppelganger gave a faint laugh and said, ...If I were human...I'd be already dead..."

"No," Ukyo whispered the word, knowing in her heart that the boy in her arms was dying, and that it felt like losing her own Tenma, a fate so overwhelming that she knew in a few moments she would break out in screaming.

"There's got to be something you can do!" Yuki pleaded, "We can't let him die..."

"I don't think it's up to us, Kid," Ranma said reluctantly, looking hard at the boy, "For what it's worth...you did good, Son. You're a Saotome, don't let anybody ever tell you different."

The boy in his wife's lap could only smile weakly at that, but already he knew that his internal damage was far more extensive than was visible on the surface, and he could measure his life in the number of seconds he had left before his synthetically created organs went into terminal shutdown failure.

Unnoticed by anyone, however, strange fibers creeping across the ground made their way to where the injured boy was breathing his last, and-unseen by even Ukyo or Yuki-attached themselves to the Doppelganger Tenma, seeking a connection and determining the extent of his terminal condition...

Ranma turned away to hide his rage and self-disgust, knowing he had to keep it in for the sake of appearances or his wife would never be able to hold it together. The sight of the badly burned boy was enough to make him yearn to lash out, to give vent to a rage that would have shaken the very heavens, and the thought of dealing punishment to the one who had callously inflicted this on a child...regardless of that child's true nature.

Just then his real son cried out in pain, drawing Ranma's attention back to the real battle, seeing Neos standing there with her fist buried deep into the chest of the puppet called "Frieza," which same was sputtering and coming apart as the young boy's concentration faltered.

"Son...are you all right?" Ranma asked as he came to the other boy's aid.

"Sorry Pop...I wanted to get even...couldn't make him strong enough..." Tenma replied as he felt his father's reassuring hand upon his shoulder.

"I know, Boy," Ranma said as he turned a grim-eyed stare upon the true villain of the piece, "You did as good as you know how...now it's time to let someone else take over."

Neos shook off the last disintegrating fragments of the dispelled puppet and sneered, "Did you think a mere child's toy would be a threat to me? No matter what tricks you use, in the end I will destroy you all!"

Ranma sighed as he said, "Guess it's up to me, huh? Well...no biggie...I've met worse than you, and some of those preferred playing with grown-ups, not beating up little kids to get their kicks."

"For that you will die first-!" Neos started to say when Atros appeared at Ranma's side with beam sword in hand, further emboldening her wrath, "You wish to die with him, Traitor?"

"He is a brave human, and his sons have shown great courage," Atros replied, "I can do no less...with the debt I owe his family..."

"Debt?" Ranma blinked, "What are you..."

"Trust us, Sir," Ken assured as he took his place beside Atros, "We'll explain it all...if we get the chance."

"Oh yeah?" Ranma said with an arched eyebrow, "Sounds like you got some explaining to do, but you're right, let's save it until after we sent stinky-  
face over there to the scrap heap."

"Actually, honored sir," a new voice intruded, on the setting, "We would much prefer that you leave that responsibility to us. After all, we have issues going back a long way with our former employer."

"WHAT?" Neos Gold reacted as Ranma and the others spared a glance to the side, seeing the oddly garbed figures standing there, the lead of whom caused Tenma to gasp and say, "Fiber-Sama?"

"Hello, Ten-chan," said a much changed Fiber, who coolly turned to regard the astonished Neos, "Sorry to be so late...we were...disturbed in our incubation cycle by the sense of your battle. We half feared that we would arrive too late, but here you save the best for us...how thoughtful."

"You...failures!" Neos snarled, "You dare show your faces around me?"

"Look who is talking about faces?" said another of these strange features, a leonine woman whose red hair was almost enough to give Ranma a case of the shivers.

"We are simply former minions here to speak with you about receiving our back-  
pay from our former Master," said a strangely insectoid woman whose chitinous armor was strangely beautiful in a Samurai-like way.

"Or should we make that...our Pay-back?" another armored woman faintly snarled the word with a glare that left no doubt as to whom she was directing her venomous inference.

"Oh...and by the way," said Fiber, "If I were you people I'd take shelter right now...there is about to be a rather nasty explosion, and I would be pained to see friends of little Ten-chan come to harm in any way."

"Huh?" Ranma asked, "What are you talking about-?"

One might think that a lifetime of experience would have cautioned the Saotome elder to never ask such an obvious question of the fates, but the next instant later a tremendous wave swept through the very fabric of the void, and Subspace itself underwent a savage transformation, leaving everyone else to gasp in dismay as a field of white washed over everything, and for a prolonged, eternal moment seemed to swallow up the whole of existence...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Miraculous Conclusions: shadowmane

Not an imaginary story! Not a dream! Not a cheap blurb to mislead people into grasping for the next installment! The end of the Gold War is at hand at long, long last, but what part will the heroes play in its resolution, and who will emerge the winners and the losers? Stay tuned for: "Guys and Hyperdolls," or, "Is This Any Way To Win A Resolution?" Be there!

X -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	42. Chapter 42

Earthchild42

The Earthchild

(A Sailor Moon/Ranma/Iczer Crossover)

by Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi,  
Naoko Takeuchi, Toshihiro Hirano,  
&amp; Hitoshi Okuda, with) ideas and suggestions by TH Tiger and Johannes Huber, plus a side-  
comment provided by the late/great Douglas Adams;  
So long, Doug, and thanks for all the fish!)

Chapter Forty-Two.

(Life, The Universe and Everything)

The enigmatic controller known simply as The Weatherman was monitoring the crisis points that had appeared upon the Earth. His job was to play central coordinator in mobilizing defensive forces from one crisis-point to the other, and within the past hour or two there had been many hot-spots where the alien invaders known as Venomoids had been flooding out from numerous pinpoint gates to spread destruction and chaos, giving him quite a literal headache as he worked at keeping up with the strain of his workload.

Central Coordinator was a polite title for "Controlled Madness," a task that normally the Weatherman was more than able to manage, but under current circumstances he was having to marshal resources and manpower to put out fires in a dozen different portions of the globe, and with a seemingly endless tide of enemy forces spilling out to further turn his day into a serious nightmare. It helped far less than usual that-being a cyborg with special neural-implants to improve his ability to monitor and respond to new data-he was directly wired in to the flood of reports from various field agents relating to him about how seriously awful their day was being faced with odds of a thousand-to-one-or-so, as if complaining into his ear would somehow make everything seem better. If he could have detached his implants right then and there he might gladly have done so, as it was just tuning them to a manageable hubbub was the best he could do to retain his sanity over the matter.

"Grid Fourteen, reporting heavy enemy activity, Sir, civilian casualties listed at over two hundred and climbing..."

"Team Seven is taking heavy hits in Sydney, enemy action contained...for the moment..."

"New York center is reporting mostly structural damage but only light casualties...no surprise there, they've had a lot of practice dealing with these types of emergency situations..."

"Metropolis is also contained, but some enemy activity still in the field, and Gotham is getting hit bad. Teams Five and Nine are doing their best, but they are being overwhelmed..."

"Same with Paris and London...and Moscow's about to crumble...Blizzard is calling for reinforcements but we've no units left in reserve..."

"Portions of Rio are on fire...if it wasn't for those X-guys showing up to save Team Six's bacon..."

"Hey, no praising the freelancers! You wanna get reported or something...?"

Weatherman tried to filter out the mindless chatter of the various Monitor Officers manning the complex array of equipment of the Stormwatch Satellite, in Geo-synchronous orbit above the world that he and his people were sworn to protect, but it did little good as the net result of all these reports was to give him the definite impression of a complete cluster-fuck in the making. His people were getting chewed up down there, and by all indications there was worse to come, and with no further reserves to put into the field they were going to be losing agents left and right from simple exhaustion in the face of vastly superior numbers. SHIELD and SHADO were in no better shape, being stretched to the limits of their own resources. In fact, if things got any worse he was going to have to seriously consider calling in the heavy players from the MIB, who might be the only ones on the planet with the equipment needed to combat this sort of...

"SIR! ENERGY SURGE FROM THE SURFACE OF LUNA! BEARING ONE-ONE-SIX-IT'S HEADED STRAIGHT FOR EARTH!"

"What?" this time Weatherman visibly reacted, the unexpected nature of this report being far more alarming than any of the others.

"Confirm that, Sir! Energy pulse moving at great speed, about .09 of the velocity of light...it will reach the Earth in fifteen-point-two seconds!"

"Nature of the energy pulse?" Weatherman immediately snapped.

"Unknown type...a Bio-energy pulse of unknown origin, level five intensity..."

"Level...FIVE?" Weatherman turned around and leveled both his good organic eye and his synthetic one in the direction of the monitoring station that was presently being employed to track the just-concluded battle between the C'thuwulf and the enemy activity in Sector Five-One-Eight near their Worldship, but the level of energy that even an Iczer could normally manifest never exceeded more than Level Four intensity, so what in the name of creation could be producing a surge like that?

"Energy surge making contact with the outer atmosphere-SIR!" Weatherman could hear the tremble in the voice of the Monitor rise up a note in wonder, "The unknown energy type...it's...merging with planet! It's spreading out over the atmosphere, it-it...!" there was a pause during which Weatherman was convinced his heart had stopped until the woman on duty finished her statement, "It's...purifying the surface of the planet!"

"What?" Weatherman asked for the second time in less than a minute.

"Confirmed, Sir," another Monitor replied, "Units reporting in...enemy activity has completely halted...it's like they're being erased! Swept clean by the hand of a God or something..."

"A God?" Weatherman new several deities on a first-name basis, and not even Thor or Raiden could manifest something this powerful or thorough. The combined energies of the Eternals, maybe, but unless Odin, Zeus or Ra was taking a personal hand in the matter there was no way that any pantheon could be responsible for this sudden reversal of their fortunes!

"Energy pulse leveling off...no reports of enemy forces, no indication of further enemy encroachment...pinpoint barriers are closing, inter-dimensional incursion forces have been eliminated..."

Weatherman tuned out these various positive reports, concentrating his attention on the source of the emanations. A tactical display showed what area of the Moon had been the source for the energy pulse, but that only made him blanch with a greater sense of dread than any mere Divine Intervention might provide...considering that it was the so-called "Blue Area" that was the home to a certain alien intelligence that no sane being would disturb if they had any wits about them. The power-level of that individual was certainly well within the capability of performing such a feat...but...why? He NEVER interfered, never in any way this overt and direct, which...would imply that someone else had done this deed, most probably at his sufferance...but again the question arose...why? Or who?

And-more importantly-How? It was as if someone had used a magic wand to banish the Venomoid menace from the face of the planet...but who would have access to a power like that, and-even more to the point-were they even remotely within the realm of what laughingly passed for "Humanity" these days...and did he even want to know the answer?

Ordinarily Weatherman would have disliked leaving things at the level of a mystery, and his job required him to find out whatever he did not already know about the Meta-human presence upon the planet, but this was ominous even by his rather jaded standards, and the source of this seeming miraculous feat would likely tax even his resources should he one day have the dubious privilege of meeting whoever it was to whom they owed this favor...

Steve Rodgers had seen a great many things in his decades-spanning career, facing everything from Gods to Intergalactic menaces, and fighting against impossible odds was simply a part of his resume for all intents and purposes...but when his team had seemed on the edge of certain defeat, being miraculously saved by a silvery energy that washed over everything and only adversely affected the bad guys was something of a novelty in his experience. A religious man by nature (because of and in spite of his experiences) he was not accustomed to such a total reversal of fortune, and seeing the monsters who had been-mere moments ago-running rampant doing destruction among the civilian population suddenly and miraculously get blasted into atoms was enough to make him think that someone up above really was looking out for their bacon.

He turned to his teammates-those still conscious and able to exchange mutually astonished looks with one another-and said, "Okay...anybody here want to take a wild guess on what just happened?"

"Um...Hulk smash?" ventured Doctor Banner with a mildly facetious expression.

"Verily 'tis must puzzling and distressing that we be rescued by yon bolt from above," Thor ventured.

"I'm not making any trace of those alien spores, Steve," said the red and gold hued Iron Man, "It's like whatever hit them wiped them out altogether right down to the molecular level."

"Steve?" he heard a voice in his earpiece before any of his other colleagues could respond to that question, "Steve...are you all right?"

"We're okay, Sharon," he replied, "How about you and the Helicarrier?"

"Well, it was pretty touch and go for a moment there," his wife replied, "But when that white light occurred..."

"Right," he said, "The monsters just up and vanished. Any ideas"

"Well," Sharon ventured, "I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth right about now, but I have to admit that whoever did this may be more powerful than those Venomoids...and I don't know about you but I find that idea more than a little scary."

"Right," Steve somberly nodded, glancing at the rest of his reviving teammates before adding, "I wonder if Bruce Wayne ever has days like this. Well, whatever just happened...I hope whoever did this is on our side."

"Yeah," his wife agreed with a hint of nervousness in her soft chuckle, "No fooling..."

Neo-Queen Serenity sighed as she relaxed her posture and brought her Moon Scepter down to where its glow merely filled the light within the circle of her friends as they stood at the center of her Palace.

"It's done," she said, "These Venomoids were certainly foul creatures, as foul as the soldiers of the Dark Kingdom and their Youma servants. Dispelling them took considerable energy, but now they and their companions have been banished from the Earth, thanks to our spell of Dissimulation."

"Well, the important thing is that you have stopped the invasion that girl was speaking about," said Luna, "There's no telling how many lives you girls have saved through your actions..."

"But we arrived late on the scene," Lady Mars protested, "Too late to prevent some lives from being lost. How much of a success can you rate that as?"

"Better than the alternative," Lady Jupiter replied, "Letting those creatures take over the whole planet."

"Some lives lost may be a very steep price to pay for victory," Lady Venus added, "But if we had acted any sooner than this we could not guarantee getting the entire invasion force in one effective burst of Planet Power."

"You all are quite correct," Lady Mercury affirmed, "The maximum dispersal of ambient Planetary energies channeled through the Moon Scepter set along the frequency and intensity of my calculations has proven most effective against the cellular structures of the creatures own bodies. In effect they were like an infection cleansed away by the combined energies of all our powers channeled through the Imperium Silver Crystal."

"The fact that it worked proved your calculations were as sharp as ever, Mercury," said Lady Uranus, "And now the Earth has been saved..."

"Yes...from the current danger anyway," Lady Neptune affirmed, "But what about the ones who sent those creatures to invade the earth? Won't they be coming back to cause more trouble?"

"Not necessarily," Lady Pluto turned her gaze off into space as if seeing much farther than the others, "I sense that actions taken by others will play an important role in resolving things quite decisively...and that Sailors Deimos and Phobos have a part to play in the overall struggle."

"Then shouldn't we be taking a hand in helping them out?" Lady Pluto wondered.

"But first we'd have to find out where that Nova character took them," said Artemis the lunar cat, "And without a means of tracking, let alone following them..."

"You are wrong in one respect, Old Friend," Queen Serenity turned to regard him, "We do have a means of contacting, tracing and following these C'thuwulf and their allies to wherever it is they have journeyed...the children," and she turned a meaningful glance towards one in particular, her Daughter, the Princess Rini.

"Of course," Lady Mars turned to regard those junior Senshi standing along the outer ring of their assembly, "You guys ought to know where that Cherry-headed elf went with my daughters...isn't that right, Rini-chan?"

"Ulp," Princess Rini gulped, waving a disarming hand as she nervously responded, "Hey, we know where their main Earth base is, but that doesn't guarantee that Nova took her there! After all, she's sort of on the outs with her own people..."

"Their base will do for now," Serenity replied, turning to Lady Mercury and saying, "Contact the Worldship for me, if you would please. I believe that it is time for another chat with that Sir Violet person. As their leader she ought to have a few answers for us, now that we've demonstrated our capabilities in terms that no one could ignore or dismiss."

"Already as good as done, my Queen," Mercury replied, touching her portable com-  
pad and calling up a new image in the air, which resolved once again into the form of Sir Violet.

"Greetings to you again," Serenity smiled, "I trust you are now satisfied of my good intentions?"

The other woman was visibly shaken, "How did you do that? You wiped out the entire attack force..."

"Let's just say that I have my ways and leave it at that," Serenity said in pleasant tones that left a lot unsaid, exactly as intended, "We need to have a personal meeting. Are you amenable to this?"

"I am," Sir Violet nodded, "But I shall need to contact the Protector and seek her council in these matters."

"Protector?" Serenity showed her surprise, "But I thought that you are the leader..."

"I am the Spiritual head of the C'thuwulf people," the other woman replied, "But our Military governor is Iczer One, who is currently on Earth investigating other related matters. I can summon her back if you wish..."

"That...won't be necessary," Serenity considered the point then said, "Would it be permissible for me to come aboard with my personal retainers? I find it much easier dealing with people in person."

"By all means," Sir Violet said, "I very much look forward to meeting you in person. Shall I arrange transport?"

"Thank you, but no, we have our own means," Serenity nodded to her Senshi and they nodded back in affirmation, then to Mercury she added, "Select a good arrival point and prepare for Sailor Teleport."

"Yes, your Majesty," Mercury replied, already tapping in the instructions to her portable computer...

The explosion had swept through everything like a rolling sheet that had been given a good shake by an enormous giant, flattering whatever was in its wake and replacing the scarred battlefield of Subspace as cleanly wiped as the blank screen of a child's Etcha-sketch (TM).

Those not braced for this phenomenon had been knocked off their feet and were left hanging in the resultant void that had no up or down to it, the illusion of gravity having been canceled out with the rest of the landscape. Figures tumbled loosely in this void without clear orientation to give them reference points with which to find their way, and for many this was too bewildering a concept to make ready sense in their minds, being unaccustomed to the lack of clear markers to give the mind a proper grasp of time and distance.

Into this void the clan of Saotome had been swept up with the others, yet on the threshold of insanity one mind grasped the Void's purpose and put it to good use in restoring a modicum of sense to his environment. Unconsciously, not truly aware of what he was doing, and feeling along the edges of his perceptions he reached out from some inner reserve of near-limitless potential and sought the other members of his immediate family, latching out to them and drawing them into the scope of his presence.

A very strange thing occurred to him as he did this...a strange electricity flowed over his body, transforming his outer garb and altering his appearance even as he ceased to tumble. A warmth radiating from his forehead caused a sphere of energy to form around his presence, and with this globe he willed his loved ones to hover nearer to him as he began to regain full mastery over his heightened perceptions.

Very slowly Ranma opened his eyes, feeling oddly changed as he glanced around to find Ukyo and Tenma within easy arms reach. Little Yuki was there as well, looking more than slightly bewildered at him as Ranma noticed something about him self that was very much out of the ordinary. Of course it was Tenma who put it into more concrete terms by saying, "Wow, Pop! What the heck is that you're wearing?"

"Huh?" glanced down at his changed wardrobe, which no longer resembled his usual Chinese-style red shirt and black trousers. Instead he found himself wearing a very different kind of ensemble, one that reminded him of nothing so much as the sort of thing that would have greatly appealed to Tatewaki Kuno, a stylish garb reminiscent of the pre-Meiji era.

"Sugar?" Ukyo asked as she looked him up and down, then focused on his face and said, "What's that on your forehead?"

"Hah?" Ranma resisted the impulse to put a hand to his head to check out if there were anything up there to warrant his wife's round-eyed attention. Instead he just swore, "Kuso...what the heck is this thing...?"

"I believe that I may answer that one, Ranma," a surprisingly familiar voice said, one vibrant with life and health rather than dry and raspy as was her normal speech pattern, "You've undergone something that has brought your hidden legacy to the surface, just as it has done for me..."

"Huh?" Ranma was amazed to find himself looking at an indigo-haired woman wearing an outfit strangely similar to his own, smiling at him with luminous green eyes and also bearing distinctive tattoos on her face and forehead. She was also holding a disturbingly familiar staff while hovering over the unconscious forms of Gel and Godai Kuno.

"Surprised?" she asked with a sardonic smile, "I can't say I blame you."

"Who are you?" he asked as he tried to place why she seemed so familiar, then he thought he knew the reason, "You look a little like..."

"My great-great granddaughter?" the mysterious beauty responded with a gentle smile, "Not too surprising...chalk it up to good genetics."

"Genetics?" Ranma blinked then said, "Old Ghoul?"

"Old I may be," she said with a cocked eyebrow, "But hardly a Ghoul, as you surely must concede..."

"Whoah, Sugar," Ukyo said, "What happened to you? You got...kind of young all of a sudden..."

"I prefer to think that we are as young as we feel, Saotome-san," the beauty replied, "But you may both be assured that I am very much the Cologne whom you have known all of these years...or rather I look much as I did in the days of my lost youth. Yet another curious phenomenon of this realm, no doubt..."

"Great-Great-Grandmother?" Perm asked as she floated into the sphere surrounding her close kinsmembers.

"In the flesh, as it were," Cologne turned to her remaining kinswoman, "Sorry if this concerns you, Child, but I believe that whatever just happened has activated the slumbering giant that exists in all of us, or rather...in those of us who share a common heritage together."

"What the heck does all that mean?" Ranma asked as he stared down at his transformed wardrobe and said, "And what the heck is this thing...?"

"Never mind all that," Ukyo suddenly spoke up, looking around with a frantic expression, "Where's Ten-chan?"

"Huh?" Tenma asked, "I'm over here, Mom...!"

"I don't quite think she means you, Son," Ranma turned and looked around with a worried expression, "What happened to the kid? Did he get blown away or something...?"

"Not in the least," another familiar voice replied, "In fact I have him right here."

They turned to see the strange looking woman they had met before, the one who called herself Fiber yet who looked far less like a plastic doll than Tenma could remember. In fact, looking at her now he was struck by the startling changes that been rendered in her appearance, making her seem more human than before, far less mechanical and far more organic, almost like a real woman...and in her arms she held a cocoon of woven threads that was just large enough to contain a small boy of the age of eleven, a face Ukyo registered with a start, even as Tenma said, "Fiber-Sensei?"

"Is he...?" Ukyo hesitated to ask, her eyes locked on the cocoon and what it portended.

"He yet lives," Fiber revealed to her, "I am preserving his spark and nurturing it with my own. It was fortunate that my sisters and I arrived when we did or it would have been a tragedy. He is a very brave young boy, sacrificing himself for the sake of another."

"Can you make him all right?" Yuki asked anxiously.

"Oh, I can make him better than all right, little one," Fiber smiled, "In fact, I can reweave his internal make-up so that he will be far more human than you remember, almost like the real Tenma, minus the taint of Big Gold, which I have already inoculated him against."

"You're the one who trained my Boy, right?" Ranma asked.

"I am," Fiber replied.

"Heh, good job," Ranma ran his hand through his real son's hair and ruffled him a bit, "Kid packs quite a punch, almost as good as his old man."

"Aw...Pop!" Tenma said in embarrassed affection.

"Better even than you know, Lord Saotome," Fiber replied with a smirk, "But first, before I have fully healed this one, I wish to ask you and your lady wife an important question."

"Which is, Sugar?" Ukyo asked, steadying herself with the realization that the other Tenma was no longer dying.

"Do you love this child?" Fiber asked, "Do you love him in spite of the fact that he was sent to copy and eliminate your real son?"

Ranma exchanged looks with Ukyo, who glanced down (well, metaphorically anyway) before looking up and saying, "I guess we do...dunno why, but..."

"But he's just like our Son, the real Tenma," Ranma said gruffly, his hand lightly squeezing on his son's shoulder.

"And what of you, Ten-chan?" Fiber smiled with even more affection than before, "Have you any objections to having a twin brother?"

"Huh?" Tenma blinked, "You mean like Gel and Perm?"

"Somewhat more stable and less antagonistic than those two," Fiber amended.

"Kinda like Yui when she's twinned, huh?" Tenma considered the point then shrugged, "I dunno...it'd get pretty confusing having people try and tell us apart..."

"Not so much now as you might have imagined," Fiber said as she caused the cocoon to open and floated the child into Ukyo's outstretched arms, revealing him to be very much alive, un-singed and with his hair a different shade than before, slightly more purple than the coal black of the regular Tenma.

"Whoah," Ranma exclaimed as he took in this distinctive change in appearance, "Looks more now like one of the old ghoul's relatives..."

"Did I hear myself being mentioned?" the now young-seeming Cologne smiled sweetly.

"Baba?" Tenma asked with a wide-eyed expression that mirrored the look formally given by his father.

"Indeed," Fiber mused, looking from the indigo-haired Cologne to the strangely majestic Ranma and nodding her head in confirmation, "Seeing you two now has proven that my instincts were correct in my earlier suspicions. There is a link between you two which is strong and very deep..."

"What?" Ranma blinked, "Me and the old...uh...I mean..."

"Now that you mention it," Ukyo remarked as she looked at the boy in her arms, at Cologne and then at her husband, "There is kind of a resemblance here between you three...and Perm does kinda look a little like Sakura-chan with a different haircolor..."

"Indeed?" Perm asked herself, arching a lavender eyebrow at hearing this observation by the mother of one of her chief rivals.

"I sensed this spark much earlier when I was training with your son," Fiber revealed, "Ten-chan had a strength not found in other humans of my acquaintance. At first I thought it just some unique character which gave him so strong an ability to manipulate the very fabric of Subspace, but now I see that there is a legacy within him, one you share with the Kuno clan. No doubt it has contributed to your becoming such a superlative fighter, though it is a power that has other uses besides combat."

"What are you talking about?" Ranma asked before glancing at Cologne, "Old woman?"

"I never intended to reveal this to you before, Ranma," Cologne said with some reluctance, "But what this lady says is true...there is a family connection between us."

"Get outta here," Ranma blinked, "Really?"

"Why do you think that I agreed to train you in many of our Amazon secrets?" Cologne wondered, "Why my own great-granddaughter turned her back on me to marry a man of whom I did not approve, I chose you to be my disciple, to teach you the arts that I wished to pass on to a successor. When your children were born I was delighted to play the role of their distinguished mentor. I have watched over them as if they were my own...because they are distantly related to me. You see...my father was not entirely human man of the earth...and I have come to believe that he is none other than you grandfather, which makes us kin, and therefore you are entitled to be Amazons by adoption."

"Huh?" Ranma blinked, "My grandpa? But he must be, like...what...eighty years old by now...?"

"Try well over two thousand," Cologne revealed, "And a Prince of a star-faring civilization known as the Jurai, who have a power within them that is far more vast, ancient and life-sustaining than you can imagine..."

"Is that a fact, Sugar?" Ukyo mused, holding the small boy in her arms with tenderness and affection, "So...what's the story with this guy? Was he really made to be an assassin?"

"And spy," Fiber noted, "But something went awry when he attempted to copy and eliminate the real Tenma...that spark of the unusual within his makeup reacted to the alien presence and...well...I don't think it was an easy thing to attempt to copy it. In effect the Power within Tenma reached out and did the reverse, transforming the Doppelganger in its own likeness. That is why he was able to overthrow Gold's programming and loyalties...he began to think and act just like the original Tenma, who would never betray the trust of a loved one. He began to see you as his real family, and to react in ways far more human than were intended with his design...and also, the Venomoid infection in his makeup was totally eliminated. He is, in effect, a real boy right down to the cellular level...even given that he has certain...enhancements that suit his hybrid nature."

"Cool," Tenma smiled, "Then I guess he's safe now to be around, huh?"

"As safe as it is to be around you, my little Ten-chan," Fiber smiled the more sweetly.

All at once they heard a massive cry out in the distance, prompting Ranma to react, "What the heck was that?"

"Neos," Fiber growled the word as she glared off in the distance, "Some beings just don't know when to stop being a nuisance. My sisters are in the process of attempting to subdue her, but, as you may suspect, she is being a bit stubborn about giving up the fight now that Big Gold herself has been permanently eliminated."

"The big bad guy?" Tenma blinked, "Somebody took her out?"

"Apparently," Fiber replied, "I sensed when it happened...I can perceive patterns and changes in the weave of destiny, and when she died she sent a very large reverberation throughout her pocket realm, followed seconds later by an even larger explosion that seems to have disrupted her shadow-world all together."

"Then this Neos is the last menace yet to be overcome?" Cologne reasoned.

"The last of Big Gold's creations, and by far the worst of her servants," Fiber revealed, "Neos was created in the image of her mother and is far more terrible than any lesser Bioroid or servant."

"Then what are we waiting around here for?" Ranma asked, "Let's go beat up on the baddie..."

"You fools! Do you think your paltry powers combined can equal my glory?" Neos roared as she found herself in a fierce no-holds-given battle with three of her former minions, to say nothing of having a pair of Iczers periodically joining in to give their own share of the mayhem.

"Maybe not, but we'll never know unless we try," came the cheerful reply of the Beast-woman formerly known as Bigro, who was hammering away at Neos with claws that could easily rip through bio-armor.

"We were your victims and servants until you discarded us without a second thought or single regret," snarled the chitin-armored Insect as she lashed out with razor-sharp forearms that struck as hard and as fast as a pair of bladed weapons, "So how does it feel to be on the receiving end of your former creations?"

"We were your Masters of the Heavens Once," said the former cyborg known as Golem, "The Sisters of the Comet who mindlessly did your duty as your faithful general and most trusted servants...but no more are we your slaves! Now we are free to give back for the humanity that you took away from us!"

As she declared this Insect and Bigro gave back as though on a pre-arranged signal, leaving the path clear for Golem to fire an array of powerful mini-  
rockets, which same buffeted at Neos Gold's armored hide from all directions. Finishing this off, Golem's hands formed into a pair of nasty looking ray cannons and unleashed a burst of sonic energy that shook Neos hard enough to rattle her teeth, then Bigro and Insect plunged in again to hammer away from both angles, further forcing the enemy Bioroid on the defensive.

But still Neos was defiant, "Your attacks are too weak and ineffectual to do me any real damage!"

"Maybe alone that would be the case," Bigro grinned.

"But the more times we hit you the weaker you become," Insect affirmed, "Like pebbles to a mountain, and no matter how well Big Gold remade you, your armor is still only so touch and penetration resistant!"

"Maybe that's her problem, Sisters," Golem said cheerfully, "She's been so long without that she's hard up for some action. Think we should soften her up some more?"

"No thanks," Bigro replied, "She's not my type, but I'll gladly see you get recycled to a proper burial, Neos-sama," she added the latter part with a lilting hint to make the comment even more insulting.

"You-!" words proved inadequate to express the rage boiling up within her, but rather than continue to trade insults she moved with an unexpected burst of power, grabbed Bigro by her tail and swung her around so that she collided against Insect.

Thus freed from their distracting presence, she turned to Golem and unleashed a blast that turned the very air into cinders, but Golem reacted in time by erecting her shields, raising her arms to block the powerful burst so that she was only lightly singed around the edges.

"Whoah," Nova commented from where she still sat in the chest cockpit of her Iczer Robo, "Those guys have been pounding her pretty good, but Neos wasn't kidding about how tough she is. It's gonna take a lot more than that to send her to the scrap heap."

"Can't we do anything to help?" Yui asked.

"Help?" Nova chuckled, "Honey-bunch, you're in the control cabin of an Iczer-  
Robo, one of the most powerful engines of destruction ever invented. Up there your wishes can be converted into reality, so if you want to join in, just access my memories, link in with Delos Gamma and you can kick Neos from here to the Proxima system."

"Oh," Yui said, "Okay," and she started to open her mind, only to clamp down again with an embarrassed gasp, "NOVA!"

"Huh, what's up?" Nova asked.

"Would you get your mind out of the gutter and stay focused?" Yui said frantically, "Those...things you're thinking about doing...with ME of all things...!"

"Hey, what's wrong with thinking about screwing you?" Nova asked, "I do it all the time now, you know..."

"Yeah, every six seconds!" Yui flushed crimson with the sense of animal lust being directed towards her, "But this is serious!"

"Hey, I'm serious about you, Yui-chan!" Nova insisted, then sighed, "Oh...I get it...it's a human thing, right? Your time of the month or something?"

"NO!" Yui said a bit more hastily than she had intended, her embarrassment making her feel as red as a beet, which was not helped by the fact that she was rather self-consciously naked, "It's nothing like that! It's just...this isn't the right time for it..."

"Okay, okay," Nova sighed, "Fight first, sex later, huh? I think I can Grok that..."

Yui had serious reservations on that point, but at the moment she was just grateful to not have to shut out the intensely erotic images that had been flowing through Yui's mind via her rapport with Nova. As pleasurable as those images might be, this was certainly NOT the time and place for such activities, nor did she want to imagine herself in some of those positions...at least not at the moment...

Atros threw herself back into the fray using her beam sabers to attack her creator, but Neos easily shrugged off her assault and dished out some punishment of her own with a straight shot to her face that sent the Bioroid tumbling backwards. Her triumph, however, proved short lived as Ken took the opening to return the favor, channeling Bio-energy through his hands to partially stun the evil Neos. With her attention partially distracted he sought to take advantage by teleporting behind her and applying his own beam-saber to what he hoped would be an opening chink in her armor.

Neos surprised him, however, by reaching out with one hand and halting the saber between clawed fingers, demonstrating that-even half blind-she was still a formidable opponent.

"I grow tired of dealing with you insects!" Neos cried as she backhanded the Iczelion warrior, then snarled as she said, "You think by ganging up on me you will wear me down? Fools! I am far more powerful than you can even imagine, as I will now demonstrate in one-MMMPPPHHH!" she gasped as strands of cable wrapped around her face and body.

"Oh shut up already," Fiber scorned, "If you haven't any fresh material to share with the rest of us, then don't say anything at all."

Neos struggled against the cables binding her, even tried using them like a medium to sent a shocking pulse down to their wielder, but Fiber seemed immune to these efforts and instead used leverage to heave Neos and swung her around like a ball on a tether, whirling her hard to build up sufficient G-forces before slamming her against a solid object that sprang into existence from seeming no where, stunning Neos effectively as more cables wound up to bind up her Dragon-like body.

"Nice shot," Golem commented.

"Bet her ears are going to be ringing like gongs over that," Bigro seconded.

"Not to mention her tail," Insect added rather sweetly.

All at once Neos roared and shattered the anvil-like surface that she had been pressed up against, shattering the cables binding her and looming large in her towering fury.

"YOU FOUR REJECTS HAVE JUST MADE A FATAL MISTAKE IN ANGERING ME!" she declared, "These puny charades of yours will not avert your inevitable demise..."

"We're getting tired of hearing you say the same threat over and over," Golem scoffed.

"We've been dead before," Insect remarked.

"You'll have to do better than that to impress us." Bigro added with a confident smirk.

"You want to be impressed, do you?" Neos snarled, throwing back her arms and rearing to her full height, "THEN WITNESS MY POWER IN ITS FULL ASPECT!" and with that her body started to grow as an exo-skeletal frame took shape all around her.

"Uh oh..." Neos remarked, "Don't look now, guys, but I think we're gonna have trouble..."

"Evidently," Atros noted, "Ken-san...are you well?"

"Fine...just fine, Cute-stuff," Ken grunted, "But check out the competition...now that's huge!"

Indeed the giant Mecha that manifested around Neos Gold was indeed impressive, and almost twice as tall as an Iczer Robo. It bristled with arms like cross between a Spider and a Hindu god, and in each of its six arms it held a globe of power that crackled with energy that filled the featureless void like a wrathful avenging demon, promising to trample all beneath its colossal armored feet.

"Now that's big," mused Ranma, who hung off somewhat in the distance to take stock of the multi-level power duel being waged among the Iczers.

"Dunno about you, Sugar," Ukyo drawled, "But I'm for sitting this one out until we see which way the chips fall."

"Aw, big ain't that important, Mom," Tenma insisted.

"Maybe not," cautioned Yuki, "But it will do until something more impressive comes along, ne?"

"Okay," Nova averred, "Now I'm seriously worried...energy levels off the scale, which means that this ain't no cake walk anymore..."

"No fooling," Yui fervently agreed.

"Is this your idea of impressive?" Fiber asked as she raised her tone to be heard by all, surprisingly calm in the face of the looming terror, "Do you honestly think that will reverse the direction of your fortunes?"

Atros turned to look at the four members of the Sisterhood of the Comet even as Ken stood beside her looking no less confused at the calmness of their demeanor.

"Huh?" Nova blinked, "Has she gone crazy?"

"WHAT I AM CERTAIN OF IS THAT YOUR FATE HAS ALREADY BEEN SEALED!" Neos bellowed from the bullhorn pulpit of her enormous Mecha.

"You just don't get it, do you?" Golem scoffed.

"You've already lost," Bigro informed their former employer, "You just don't know it yet."

"Your cause is dead, you fight for nothing but your own aggrandizement," Insect concluded.

"WHAT'S THAT?" Neos thundered, "WHAT ARE YOU...?"

"Your Master is dead," Fiber explained, "Your army has been annihilated, the shadow world that you called home until quite recently has been totally eliminated...you are alone, you have no one but yourself left to fight for."

"WHAT?" Neos reacted, "YOU ARE LYING-!"

"To what end?" Fiber replied, "Use your own perceptions if you doubt our claims. Notice anything different about subspace? The access port to Big Gold's realm has been destroyed forever."

"WHAT?" Neos said after a long pause, "NO-IT CAN'T BE! IT'S IMPOSSIBLE! THERE IS NO WAY THAT MY MOTHER COULD BE DEFEATED-!"

"It is the truth," declared a new arrival on the scene, Iczer Two, who appeared with the Iczer Robo known as Gamma-Theta looming at her backside, "She is dead at my hand, and her Shadow world is gone with her, destroyed by her own evil."

"ICZER-TWO?" Neos reacted, "YOU TRAITOR-!"

"I grow tired of hearing that accusation," Iczer Two said with naked disdain in her voice, "I labored tirelessly in the service of Gold...once, and I paid the ultimate price for that folly. You brought me back from the dead to serve as your tool against my sister, but I rose above your petty evil to become my own Iczer. I do not consider myself a traitor for turning against those who saw me as nothing more than a mere weapon, and you do not impress me with your childish tantrums. The truth is plain, my sister...we are both orphans now, and my hands are stained with the blood of regicide, but I do not wash them of the deed. I was the tool for her undoing, but Big Gold was the one who brought about her own end by her treachery and self-delusion."

"SISTER?" Neos scoffed, "YOU DARE CLAIM TO BE KIN OF MINE?"

"Not proudly, no," Iczer Two replied, "But as you were born from the mold of Big Gold, so am I the product of her own twisted legacy. She was born of a Virus implanted by a twisted race of hate-driven creatures, and she was their vengeance upon us for the crime of outliving their civilization and culture. Gold lived to twist and pervert everything she touched, and she built nothing but an empire of death and destruction upon the ashes of our adopted world. The supreme irony of it all is that the world she created was a literal house of glass that came crashing down when its author was no longer in existence. Do not be as foolish as she in pursuing this path to its inevitable conclusion."

"You are alone now," Fiber explained, "No other servant of your side remains at large or at liberty to come to your aid or serve in your cause. The Venomoids are dead, the Geos and Voids who served under you have been destroyed utterly, and the servants not eliminated have been neutralized and are now in our custody. You are without friends or ally to call upon, and you cannot escape from this realm so long as we are blocking your exit."

"You are alone," Golem stressed the word, "And you have no cause to fight. Your world is dead, your Master reduced to nothing..."

"DEAD?" Neos seemed to be having difficulty comprehending the word, "ALONE? BUT..."

"Why the worry?" Bigro asked, "You were going to betray her eventually anyway, right?"

"No loyalty between servants," Insect agreed, "As we were deemed expendable, you were just as expendable to her, even as you intended to take her place and be the master over everything..."

"But now there is nothing to be master of," Iczer Two concluded, "The machinery you sought to use to invade the Earth is gone, along with your slaves, servitors and victims. The devices used to breed your legions are no more...you have only yourself to rely upon, and there will be no reinforcements coming to your rescue."

"So...why then should we be impressed by the mere size and strength of your combat Mecha?" Fiber asked, "If it is the only thing you have left to fall back upon, then it is a very weak substitute for what you lost with the destruction of your master."

Neos seemed to recover from her shock as she sneered, "YOU FOOLS! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU DESTROYED...?"

"Yes," Fiber replied, "An abomination, one that should never have been created."

"Gold's Empire of Evil is no more," Golem duly noted.

"So what is your verdict?" Bigro asked.

"Will you join your Master in oblivion, or prove yourself far wiser by surrendering to us now?" Insect concluded.

"NEVER!" Neos flared, her Mecha flashing fire as waves of destructive energy poured from the energy spheres in the hands of her creation, "DIE, ALL OF YOU-  
DIE!"

"Fool," Iczer Two said contemptfully as she brushed aside the destructive energy ball that had been hurled against her.

"This is nuts!" Nova winced as more energy battered against the defensive shielding surrounding her own Mecha, "Doesn't she get it yet? There ain't no way she's gonna get past us!"

"Ken-san, with me!" Atros urged as they teleported back into their Iczer Robo Sigma to join the others in bringing her Mecha against her nominal creator.

"FOOLS-I WILL DESTROY YOU ALL-I WILL AVENGE MY MOTHER! NOT ONE OF YOU WILL ESCAPE MY WRATH!"

A stray energy bolt came hurtling towards Ranma and his family, but as he braced to protect them a very curious thing occurred...a field of energy flared up as the warmth on his forehead made its presence known again, and then the bolt hit and broke apart against his shield like a snowball hurled against a flame thrower. Almost it seemed to the eye as if three propeller-like blades appeared to shield both himself and his loved ones from harm, surprising Ranma no less than any other.

"The Wings of the Lighthawk!" Cologne exclaimed in surprise, "My father described them to me once...but I never dreamed to actually see them..."

"The what of what?" Ranma asked, only to hear what seemed like a voice in his mind telling him to stretch out with a hand and to grasp the light between his fingers. Not knowing what was the source of this curious inner message, he did as he was directed and found the light resolved itself into an object shaped like a sword yet glowing with an inner power...

"TRAITORS-FOOLS-YOU DISGUST ME, ALL OF YOU!" Neos wailed, "I WILL NEVER BOW MY HEAD IN SURRENDER TO THE LIKES OF YOU! I LIVE TO DESTROY YOU ALL, AND I WILL EMERGE TRIUMPHANT AND BECOME MY OWN MASTER!"

Inside the Iczer Robo known as Gamma-Theta, Muku and Rhea were maintaining their own shields against the forces battering against their armor, but Muku was the one who ventured to say, "Why is she doing this? She has to know that she can't win..."

"I know," Rhea agreed, "And yet she sounds almost more sad than angry..."

"Sad?" Muku considered the point then said, "You're right...it's like she's more hurt than genuinely upset...she seems to be attacking blindly, not harnessing her energies to attack with any kind of coherent strategy."

"Perhaps she misses her mother far more than she ever knew," Rhea nodded, "I know that I would miss mine terribly if anything like this wee to befall them."

"Maybe so," Muku reminded, "But you can't ignore the fact that she's still out to kill us..."

"HOW DARE YOU TAKE FROM ME MY DREAMS?" Neos wailed, "ALL MY LIFE I HAVE LIVED TO CONQUER IN MY MOTHER'S NAME! TO RULE IN HER PLACE AND TO CARRY ON HER LEGACY...AND YOU TOOK IT ALL AWAY FROM ME! HOW COULD YOU DESTROY HER? SHE WAS MY MOTHER!"

"Let go of it, Neos!" Fiber urged, "Do not dwell in the past! You don't have to go on as you are, you can change your fate if you will it!"

"CHANGE MY FATE?" Neos scoffed, "MY DESTINY IS TO RULE OVER ALL! YOU CANNOT IMAGINE THE DREAMS THAT I LIVE TO FULFILL, TO DO WHAT MOTHER CREATED ME TO DO, WHICH IS TO SLAY THE WEAK AND HARVEST THE STRONG TO OUR CAUSE..."

"Somehow I just knew she would say that," Golem said as she shielded herself, Bigro and Insect.

"She does seem like a creature of her habits," Bigro noted.

"Some Constructs won't shed their skins to start a new life, not for anything," Insect firmly concluded.

"Neos!" Iczer Two raised her voice, "This is your last chance! Surrender now and I will not be forced to destroy you!"

"GET STUFFED!" Neos Gold blasted a way of white-hot fury at the black-and-red armored Iczer, but once again her target brushed the attack aside as if it were nothing.

"I warned you!" Iczer Two averred, "Now prepare to face the consequences the consequences...!"

Before she could unleash a crippling blast of her own, however, Rhea urged her Mecha forward and pressed up against the defensive shielding of the larger and more powerful Neos Unit. The forces Neos marshaled to attempt to repel this bold attack washed against the armored surface of Gamma-Theta with crushing pressure that caused portions of its armor to begin to buckle, but still Rhea poured it on, trying to force her way through the barrier as if by her lone presence she could make Neos's field collapse.

"Sis, what are you doing?" Nova reacted.

"Sister...have you gone mad?" Atros added her own input.

"Muku!" both Yui and Ken cried together.

"Rhea-chan?" Muku asked with some alarm as she felt her partner press their unit hard against Neos.

"We can't let this go on!" Rhea declared, "This has to stop now! Neos! You are killing yourself! Don't do this! Big Gold wasn't worth it!"

"SHE WAS MY MOTHER!" Neos declared hotly, "IT DOESN'T MATTER THAT SHE NEVER TRULY LOVED ME-SHE WAS MY REASON FOR EXISTENCE-AND YOU TOOK HER FROM ME!"

"She's gone mad!" Bigro exclaimed.

"Who would have thought Neos even cared whether Big Gold lived or died?" Insect wondered.

"Mad or not, she'll destroy that one if we don't take steps to intervene," Golem decided.

"Then let us join the fight again, Sisters," Fiber mused, "And bring an end once and for all time to our betrayer."

"We can't let this go on!" Ken declared, "Muku-chan will be killed!"

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Atros declared in grim resolution, urging Iczer Sigma forward.

"Yui-chan?" Nova asked.

"I follow you," Yui replied, working the controls as best she was able to urge their Iczer Robo forward so that Delos Gamma could lend its support to the actions of Muku and Rhea.

Iczer Two looked on as Rhea continued to exert pressure against Neos, then she sighed and said, "Niece...you humble me. To have such courage and compassion, and at such an age...truly you are a credit to your mothers..."

Fiber coordinated with her Sisters to create a Mecha of their own from the substance of Subspace, crafting it from the united efforts of their four distinctive powers as Golem summoned up devices while Insect united them together and Bigro charged the whole thing with a kind of life energy that would give it strength, integrity and motivation. Fiber used her threads to bind the thing and lock it into its current structure, and when it was finished it was a sight to behold, truly a labor of love for them all as they charged it up and readied it for battle.

Meanwhile Delos Gamma and Iczer Sigma joined Gamma-Theta as the three of them turned their focus upon Neos Gold's construct, the pressure from their combined Iczerio attacks being met and held in check by Neos's own powers greatly magnified through the focus of her vengeful wrath.

"Rhea-chan...she's not listening..." Muku warned, feeling the strain begin to take its toll on their Iczer Robo.

"Neos-give up now!" Rhea persisted, "We don't want to destroy you, but you'll destroy yourself if you keep this up..."

"IT IS YOU WHO WILL BE DESTROYED-YOU AND YOUR PATHETIC SIBLINGS, THEN YOUR MOTHERS!" Neos insisted, "I WILL BE THE DEATH OF YOU ALL, AND WHEN I GO I'M TAKING THE LOT OF YOU WITH ME!"

"No question about it, she's gone totally off the deep end, Sugar!" Ukyo said to her husband, having to raise her voice to be heard above the cacophony of dueling energy fields.

Ranma grit his teeth as the pressure being exerted against him was being met and held in check by his own energy fields, embodied within the sword he yet held, but he knew if he let down for even an instant the force resisting him would sweep them all away like cherry blossoms in the face of a raging typhoon. Still he managed to grate out, "Old woman-!"

"Just a little farther, Nephew," Cologne replied, somehow also managing to remain standing in the teeth of the maelstrom, "Hold out until I say to release it..."

"Nephew?" Ranma repeated through clenched teeth then desisted in further talking, doing his level best to concentrate his energies in exactly the manner which he had been instructed...

"Neos-this isn't doing you any more good than it is to us!" Rhea pleaded, "What is the point of inflicting more suffering on others? Don't you have any other cause for which to live? Is pain and suffering all you know? Is there nothing else in your world but the loneliness that you're feeling now?"

"NO-THERE IS NOTHING ELSE!" Neos insisted, "THE UNIVERSE IS A TEST TO DETERMINE WHICH OF US IS THE STRONGER WILL, AND I WILL PROVE WHY I AM THE STRONGEST OF ALL INCARNATIONS-!"

"Geez, would you give it a rest already?" Nova flared back, "And they call me obsessive!"

"Neos...you are not making any sense!" Atros responded, "What purpose is there to be strong if we all perish? No one will know if you are the victor, for there will be nothing left to fight about! What good then is your strength if it avails you nothing?"

"I WILL AT LEAST BE AVENGED FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF MY MOTHER-"

All at once the construct assembled by Fiber and her sisters joined in the fray, a hastily formed yet oddly masterful creation that combined their four powers into a formidable weapon that plunged into the barrier and caused it to buckle somewhat as the Sisters of the Comet pitted their energies up against she who was their creator...after a fashion.

"Neos-Sama...you are not well," Golem stated.

"You are a danger to yourself and to all who live," Bigro agreed.

"And so-for the sake of humanity-we will take you down," Insect related.

"It is as much for your own good that we do this," Fiber concluded, "So taste now the unified force of the Sisters of the Comet!"

So saying Golem drove the giant's arms forward as Insect and Bigro charged their energies through those arms and Fiber cast her own weaving powers to send cables of organic matter stretching out to encircle Neos's own creation, then through the medium of their unified efforts they began to exert their energies into overmastering the weave laid upon Neos's creation.

"YOU FOOLS!" Neos cried, "EVEN COMBINED YOUR POWERS CANNOT DEFEAT ME!"

"It's not enough!" Nova cried, "She's too powerful..."

"Can't...break through..." Atros stammered.

"We must!" Rhea insisted, "If we don't, then this will never truly be over!"

"Rhea-honey...I'm with you all the way," Muku allowed, feeling the determination of her partner and finding inspiration from Rhea's relentlessness, "Let's do it together, now! Let's take this lady down and put an end to this!"

Rhea felt her partner's emotions swell as her own power levels increased, and suddenly she began pushing in past the barrier, causing Neos to give way under the combined assault of their Iczerio power.

"IMPOSSIBLE!" Neos cried, "YOU CAN'T-YOU CAN'T BE WINNING-!"

"She is," Iczer Two declared, gesturing with an arm as she added, "But she could stand a little help from her elders."

The force of the bolt she released took Neos by surprise as she had not anticipated having to counteract a concentrated burst of Bio-energy as focused and intense as that hurled upon her. For a moment her concentration wavered, and in that moment Rhea pressed in, penetrating her fields all the way as she sought to close in upon the massive construct, which forced Neos to physically react by using her arms to batter away at the damaged hull of Gamma-Theta.

"GIVE UP, YOU LITTLE PEST!" Neos snarled.

"I won't give up!" Rhea retorted, "Not until you see reason!"

"THEN DIE!" Neos summoned up the rest of her energy and concentrated it into a blast that sent the Iczer Robo tumbling away from her, even as Iczer Sigma and Delos-Gamma collapsed from the exhaustion of their mutual pilots, and the construct controlled by the Sisters of the Comet staggered backward, the threads binding Neos's Mecha severing as the villainous Bioroid used what remained of her strength to burst free from their containment.

"Damn!" Golem exclaimed.

"She's too strong...but where is she getting her power?" Bigro wondered.

"Stay firm, Sisters," Fiber urged, "That took a greater effort for her than you realize, and she has nothing left to fight with."

"If you ignore the seriously pissed off attitude that's been fueling her all along," Insect duly noted.

But as these exchanges were going on, another voice was raised in a show, "NOW, NEPHEW, NOW!"

Ranma did not need the urging, having sensed the shift of energies even as he brought his sword arm forward, feeling the heat Neos created with her outburst and the cold resolve in his own breast form the connection that he knew so well and could manipulate by instinct. The shifting of the swirling energies of heat and cold instantly linked the space between the both of them, and with a swirling of clockwise effort he sent a shockwave along the line as he cried out a fierce, "DRAGON'S ASCENDING WAVE RYU!"

The blow-fueled as much by the strange energies that were gathered within him-  
-shaped itself like a white-hot knife that lanced the air and struck true through all of Neos's defenses. Ranma could feel his enemy staggering backward from the mortal blow, felt its substance begin to collapse and teeter as it was sliced perfectly down the middle, its form degrading back into the subspace void from which it had been summoned, and then it exploded with a final discharge of pent-up energies, leaving only a crater in its wake in which a single figure remained standing, bent, broken and bowed but still managing to hold herself erect for all that one arm was limp at her side and her armored body was cracked and damaged all over.

"She took all that...and she still lives?" Bigro asked.

"What is she made of?" Insect wondered.

"The same material as you or I," Fiber replied, "Held together by the force of her will and determination."

"Whatever," Golem sighed, "But I think this time she really is exhausted."

A shimmering light heralded Rhea's appearance, alongside an Iczelion armored Muku, followed in close turn by Atros and Ken, with Nova and Yui being close to follow. All three Iczers assumed ready stances, though Rhea was less on the defensive than she was saddened by what she was seeing.

"It's over," she said simply, "Surely even you must see that now, Neos-san."

"You...You..." Neos staggered, took one step forward and started to collapse to one knee, her systems faltering badly, "...You...have won..."

"Oh great," Nova said as she saw the enemy Bioroid fall face-first in the dirt, "Now she finally gets it?"

"How sad," Muku said, "I almost feel sorry for her..."

"Your sympathy is wasted on this one," Atros remarked, "For she neither feels pity nor is capable of remorse for her own actions."

"But don't you see, Sisters?" Rhea said, "That is why she should be pitied. She has nothing else in her life but pain, hate and destruction. She could not even properly grieve for the death of her mother."

"That is sad," Ken agreed, "In the end all she was is just a mindless engine of carnage. She never had anything else to live for but her ambition."

Yui raised her hands and clapped them together then began praying softly, which prompted Nova to say, "Whatcha doing, Yui-chan?"

"A prayer for the dead," Yui replied, "Even someone as evil as her needs the comfort and solace of being eased into the next world."

"Noble sentiments if she were in fact dead," Iczer Two remarked as she appeared beside them, "But Neos is more tenacious than that, and though she is certainly defeated, so long as she retains her structural integrity she will live to fight another day...if we let her."

"If we let her?" Muku asked of the intimidating Bioroid, "You mean...?"

"No," Iczer Two replied, "We will not kill her...she can be...examined, just as three of you four were examined in our facilities, to rid her of the last traces of the Gold Virus. Then, perhaps, we can decide what is to be done with her...whether to put her on trial for her crimes or to seek another form of redress."

"That is good, Auntie," Rhea said, "There has been enough death, destruction and killing. It seems that she has no other purpose to her existence...perhaps she can find another way to live if someone were to give her that option."

"Or she may just bide her time and work for the day when she will regain the upper hand, and then destroy us," Atros said, "Dead is safer, and I fear that mercy could spell our undoing."

"And I would agree under most conditions," Iczer Two replied, "But my fight with Big Gold taught me something about the nature of her evil, and if simply by killing her we think to rid ourselves of what she represented then we would have demonstrated that we had learned nothing from our long nightmare. This ordeal began because our ancestors grew complacent, and when they uncovered an evil they had thought long destroyed they were unprepared to cope with the challenge. This time we will learn a better way to live...so we will never again live under the shadow of an ancient curse of vengeance."

"Wow, Mom, that's deep," Nova murmured.

Iczer Two only half regarded her child before saying, "You are soooo grounded."

"Huh?" Nova reacted, "Me? But why?"

"Breaking quarantine wasn't enough?" Iczer Two turned to regard her genetic offspring, "Then how about kidnapping your partner and conscripting her to serve as a weapon? Endangering her so you could go gallivanting about playing at being a hero instead of a villain?"

"What?" Nova reacted, "But I never-!"

"Tell me something, Child," Iczer Two persisted, "What would have happened to you if any harm came to Hibiki Yui as a consequence of bringing her into this action?"

"I...ah...um...well..." Nova hesitated, only to start when the older Iczer laid a hand to her shoulder, compelling her to meet her level gaze as the taller woman addressed her with surprising compassion.

"Think about that the next time, Daughter," Iczer Two said somberly, "What would your life be like if you lost the one to whom you have synchronized? Would you be able to endure the loss, the pain it would cause, the emptiness that would haunt your every waking day, as it has my sister, Iczer One?"

"I..." Nova's voice dropped to the barely audible, "No...no...I..."

"Ah..." Yui spoke up, "Actually...Nova did try and keep me out of things, but I...sort of tried to follow her and...well...I'm kind of glad I did. I mean...she got really badly hurt because of me, and if I hadn't been there to...well...um...save her..."

Yui was suddenly transfixed by the crimson gaze of the senior Iczer, who seemed to be probing her intently before saying, "I...see...then this is not entirely a one-sided affair between you?"

"Ah...well..." Yui winced with a most uncertain expression, trying very hard not to glance from Nova to Muku.

"Then I thank you for sparing the life of my daughter," Iczer Two turned to regard Nova sidelong, "You have done well in choosing her. Most surprisingly so. Therefore I trust that you will take better care of each other in the future?"

"Oh...sure, Mom," Nova smiled nervously, then turned a fond look upon Yui, "I'll take really good care of my Yui...of both of her."

"Both of her?" Atros arched an eyebrow, only to receive a mental clue from Ken, which prompted her to say, "Oh..."

"Very well then," Iczer Two turned to regard the three junior Iczers, "Return to your Iczer Robos and let us retire back to New Gamora. Sensei..." she turned her glance to take in the Saotome clan, "Once again we are in your debt."

"Hey," Ranma replied as he and his family came up to join the others, "Way I see it we all helped out at the end there. You did good, Two, and you kids did real good."

"Thank you, Uncle Ranma," Muku replied, even as Ken and Yui said, "Sensei," then she took Rhea by the hand and said, "Let's go back to your place."

"I thought you'd never ask," Rhea smiled, and at once they teleported back into their Iczer Robo, followed shortly thereafter by Ken, Atros, Nova and Yui.

"Sensei," Iczer Two said again, "I would like to extend to you the opportunity to venture to my home in New Gamora. There are many questions yet to be solved, not least of which concerns the children named Gel and Godai..."

"Can you help my siblings?" Perm spoke up, having remained quietly in the background for the past few moments.

"We will do everything within our power to do that," Iczer Two turned to regard the four others who had been approaching, "And as for you...eh?"

To her surprise Fiber and her sisters came to an abrupt halt together, then as one bowed down and fell to one knee, showing respect and deference.

"Iczer Two," Fiber said, "Oh behalf of myself and my sisters, we wish to surrender ourselves to the custody of the C'thuwulf, to be judged according to both our crimes and our merits..."

"Hey!" Tenma protested, "Fiber-sama...!"

"I...see," Iczer Two glanced at one of the pair of identical small boys, then at Fiber and her sisters and said, "You have changed from what I remember...perhaps there is much that we can do for each other, if this change I sense in you is for the better."

"Be assured that it is," Fiber replied, "And as a token of our good faith, we have the four imposters who called themselves the Masters of the Heavens in our custody..."

"Ah..." Perm spoke up again, "I meant to bring this up before...but I'm afraid your captives escaped during the last part of that battle. I saw they slip from those cocoon-things you put them in..."

There was mild cussing from Insect and Bigro at that, while Golem just growled, "I knew we should have secured them better than that..."

"We will sort it all out back at Gamora Command Central," Iczer Two assured, "But for what it is worth...I am glad to have you on board. I have a feeling we can learn a great deal from you, and not as lab experiments either."

"That's a relief," Bigro averred.

"I'd hate to be someone else's experiment gone awry," Insect agreed.

"We all have had enough of that to last several lifetimes," Golem concluded.

"Swell," Ranma said, turning to Ukyo and the others, "We'd like to get back home as soon as we can, but...well..."

"We have a few questions of our own that need answering, Sugar," Ukyo said, "Like...what happened to Sakura?"

"Ah," Iczer Two nodded sagely, "Indeed...that is a very...complicated question...but we will sort it out back home. Allow me to be your guide, Sensei...I think it fair to say that we are all in for quite a few surprises, not least of whom include my sisters..."

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Loose Ties That Need Binding: shadowmane

Sorry if this chapter went on a bit longer than expected, but things will be winding up in the next couple of chapters, honest! Be with us for the aftermath of the Gold War in, "New Eve's Resolutions," or "Is This Any Way To Run A Partnership?" Be there!

X -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	43. Chapter 43

Earthchild43

The Earthchild

(An Iczer/Ranma/Sailor Moon Crossover)

by Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi,  
Naoko Takeuchi, Toshihiro Hirano,  
&amp; Hitoshi Okuda, with ideas and suggestions by TH Tiger and Johannes Huber, with additional thanks to Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, not to mention the people at DC and Marvel, at whose expense I have been having a lot of fun of late...)

Chapter Forty-Three.

"Incredible...simply incredible," said World News Editor James Perry White II as he studied the video feed being transmitted from the field, "Mister Kent is going to flip his lid when he sees these transmissions! Just think, an alien caught live as it happens! The public will be up in arms demanding to know what our government is going to be doing about this, and that means more public spending for space research will finally get approved by those Ludites in congress! This could be the start of a whole new era for humanity..."

"Or the end, don't you think?" asked Assistant Editor Catherine Grant, "So far the reports coming in from all over the world sound pretty awful...thousands of people are dead, entire cities are either burning or have been decimated. The world's Superhero population has been taxed to the brink and God knows if any of them were lost during all the fighting."

"Yes, well, so far New Deli and Beijing appear to have taken the worst of it, but those areas where SHIELD has been able to make an impact managed to minimize casualties...who knows...we may even be grateful to Stormwatch for a change, though for my money it was the JLA who really pulled their weight here..."

"JLW," Cat Grant corrected, "They changed their name when they went International..."

"Yeah, but there's no substitution for the classics," Perry was not about to let his good mood be spoiled by such trifling details, "This is gonna be a great story! The public is really going to eat this one up..."

"That is if anyone were to be allowed to view it."

"Huh?" Perry and Cat turned around to see a pair of dark-suited men (wearing sunglasses indoors or all things?) holding up what looked like a pair of pens in their hands with the black-skinned one of the pair saying, "Watch the Birdie!"

And then there was a massive flash of light, and the people in the room froze up with mutually stupefied expressions.

"Now hear this, ladies and gentleman," the lead of the pair of dark-suited men remarked, "What you have just experienced is not an Alien Invasion, it was simply a worldwide natural phenomenon that the Earth's hero population was able to contain through standard procedures and para-rescue operations. You did not film aliens coming to invade this planet...what you saw was this," and he held up a data-disk, which he then proceeded to swap out for the data disks in the recorders of the News Film Room.

"You will air this broadcast at your regular timeslot, and that will be the end of the matter," the dark suited man remarked before turning away and saying, "Let's go, Slick, we have other people to visit, and not much time before they air the primetime footage."

"Are you sure this is such a good idea?" his dark-skinned companion asked, "A cover up as big as this..."

"Nothing that we haven't had to do at least two dozen times already," his senior partner said with his typical matter-of-fact aloofness, "We go through this at least once every couple of years, or twice when it's the Crossover season. Standard policy from above...the public can't be allowed to know that the Earth is being invaded on a semi-regular basis or else civilization as we know it would come grinding to a halt overnight."

"Are you really sure about that?" his junior partner wondered, "Wouldn't it be better to let them have some idea what's going on out there so that they might at least have a chance of doing something about it?"

"Such as?" his partner asked as they stepped into the elevator together, then spoke the command words, "Daily Bugle, New York."

"I don't know," his partner said with customary frustration, "But letting them believe that stories about alien abductions and invasions are just the products of wild imagination..."

"You know the standard drill," his senior partner informed him, "If ordinary people knew that the stories about aliens were true they'd feel overwhelming helplessness and paranoia because they'd correctly know that there was absolutely nothing that anyone could do about it. They know the stories about Kryptonians and Martians but they don't take them all that seriously because those cultures are long dead and buried, so by definition they can't prove a threat to us directly, except through their sole remaining representatives, who are recognized as internationally well known superheroes. Anything beyond that is expecting too much of human nature..."

"Why?" Agent Jay asked as they stepped out of the elevator and into the corridors of the Daily Bugle, hundreds of miles away from the Daily Planet, "Because there'd be rioting in the streets or something?"

"Worse than that, Slick," Agent Kay assured him, "They'd start lobbying their congressmen to do something about it, and you know what a can of worms that would open up. No, better to leave space to the professionals who are trained to deal with Aliens and Extra-dimensional types, groups like SHADO and SPECTRUM, out of sight of the general public. Our job is simply to keep the lid on the problem and to clean up their messes when it gets too out of hand. That way our Alien buddies don't start getting nervous about humanity trying to muscle in on their franchise and Earth maintains is Neutrality pact that allows us to exist in relative freedom, unaffected by the Great Powers that rule this arm of the Galactic Nexus."

Jay was about to say something about this when a familiar voice was heard to scream out, "I DON'T EVEN WANT TO HEAR THE WORD ALIEN SPOKEN IN MY PRESENCE! THIS IS ANOTHER PLOT TO DISCREDIT ME COOKED UP BY SPIDER-MAN AND I KNOW THAT HE'S THE ONE BEHIND IT...!"

"Ah," Kay smiled, "Agent Triple-J on the job as usual, spinning out misinformation to mislead his own people off the trail of the truth. I tell you, Slick, it's guys like him who make our job a whole lot easier..."

"I still don't buy into this deal that it's a good thing to keep people so ignorant..." Jay persisted.

"You remember the Kennedy Assassination of a few decades back, Slick?" Kay countered.

"What, you mean you had a part in that? But that was, like, fifty years ago..."

"We didn't have anything to do with the assassination, Slick," Kay informed him, "It was plotted and carried out by a home-grown domestic operation, some Right-  
wing paramilitary nuts working with the CIA and the NSA, but we got involved when the conspiracy started to unravel and risked exposing many of our operations, like at Roswell. Didn't take much effort to clamp down on the investigations there...just a few words in the right ears and all the major News stories were about how only a lone nut was involved in the killings. We then systematically tracked down and eliminated most of the real assassins, except for a few high-profile jobs who wound up discrediting themselves, so we let them serve as patsies for the guys who keep an eye out for conspiracies in the underground movements..."

"You mean like what they did to Oswald?"

"Yep. Poetic justice, don't you think? Only then along comes that Oliver Stone movie, dredging up a hornets nest of unwanted publicity, and we had to do a real major PR spin-doctoring to put that brush fire out. If we hadn't then the public would have become aware that conspiracies really do exist and that their lives are being manipulated by dark and mysterious forces beyond their understanding..."

"But they think like that anyway!"

"Wrong! They only think they know about conspiracies, but most just dismiss them out of hand because there's no hard evidence that would force them to confront their reality. Better by far to pretend that everything in life is random, that a few nuts go loose and terrify school buildings and fast-food chains. If they knew that at least some of these incidents are Alien-  
related...well...you don't need much imagination to figure out what that could lead to. Just the wave of Anti-Mutant hysteria of a few decades back should show you what a bunch of fear-crazed mundanes can do stir up trouble with an easily panicked Vox Populi. Imagine if they really did know that the US government entered into a worldwide conspiracy to keep a pact with the Alien governments that we deal with on a regular basis...and that could lead to serious trouble that all the spin-doctoring in the world couldn't handle."

"I think I see what you're saying," Jay admitted, "Most people sleep better at night not knowing the sort of sh*t we have to cope with, right?"

"That's it in a nutshell," Kay shrugged his shoulders, "After all, how would Mister and Misses Joe Average feel about knowing that the neighbor next door really does come from another planet, or that we have multiple cases of Alien Convicts doing hard time on planet Earth through our Witness Protection Program, or that we have numerous cases of Alien undercover detectives passing themselves off as humans running criminal investigations in various major cities throughout the planet? No, there are just some things most people are better off not knowing...and most politicians, for that matter. It's like the Kishin Corps back during the Great War, when Japan and America set aside their differences to battle an alien menace that the vast majority of people never even heard about, and they did it using giant robots."

"No sh*t?" Jay replied, "That really must have been something..."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T BELIEVE ME? HAVEN'T YOU PEOPLE BEEN LISTENING TO A DAMNED THING THAT I'VE BEEN SAYING? JUST WHOSE PAPER DO YOU THINK THIS IS ANYHOW? I REPORT THE STORIES THE WAY I WANT TO READ THEM..."

"C'mon, Slick," Kay moved forward again, "Time to do our job before Jonah loses his audience. The old guy doesn't have the stamina of thirty years ago, you know..."

"Tell me about it," Jay grumbled, "And besides...Spidey's always been my hero..."

"Why am I not surprised?" Kay asked as he reached for his neuralizer...

"I don't get it, Sis," Troi spoke up, "That timefield bubble just collapsed like it was nothing! Everything reads normal now...if maybe things are speeding up a bit to catch up with the rest of normal space..."

"It seems that we were panicked over nothing," Iczer One remarked, "Somehow the crisis has been averted without need of our intervention...perhaps our Sister is to be credited for this?"

"You think Two did this?" Troi asked, "Well...I suppose it's possible..."

"So, everything's all right?" Sakura asked.

"Seems so, Honey-pie," Troi replied, "The city's intact and our defensive shielding is back up and running at full power. Good thing, too...whatever that White Light thing was, it seems to have totally wiped out every Venomoid spore and host on the planet."

"And quite a few reports are coming in that the Hosts themselves were cured of their Venomoid presence," Nagisa remarked, "Astonishing...I didn't even think that was possible..."

"That makes two of us," Iczer One replied before addressing herself to Gamora itself, "Protector One to Base, do you read me?"

"Protector?" Sepia's voice came through loud and clear, "What's been happening out there? We've got chronal discrepancies all over the city..."

"We're still sorting things out on our end," Iczer One replied, "Is Cobalt with you?"

"Here, Protector," came the voice that sounded so much like Iczer Two that it was difficult sometimes to tell them apart by inflection, "Iczelion Corps Home Defenders have nothing to report...no sign of enemy penetration at all, nor any activity that might have occurred while we were suffering temporal dilation. Any thoughts on that which you might wish to share with us?"

"I wish I could," Iczer One replied, "But we're as much in the dark as..."

"Ichan!" Nagisa spoke up, "We're being hailed by Sir Violet...somebody on the Worldship wants to speak with us directly."

"Someone...?" Iczer One directed her thoughts to the incoming channel, "Go ahead, Mother of us All."

"Protector," Sir Violet appeared within her mind with a vividness that made it seem almost as if they were standing in the same room together, "I'd like to introduce you to some new friends of our acquaintance, ones who are very much eager to speak with you directly."

Iczer One directed her consciousness to taking in the sight of several oddly dressed women standing regally to one side of the stately Violet, chief of whom was a radiant vision of loveliness who stood in a regal ballroom gown that was all of white, a crown upon her head framed by a pair of long blonde ponytails that dangled to the floor in the style of twin odangos, and-most astonishingly-a pair of ivory feathered Angel-wings adorning her back, adding to her unearthly appearance, even as a pair of clear blue eyes regarded her with a mingling of mischief and intense interest. There was something about this beauty that stirred the subconscious with a sense of the divine about her, and without even needed to be prompting she could perceive that this lady manifested a strangely noble power that was not to be taken too lightly.

"How do you do, Protector?" the woman addressed her without preamble, "I am called Neo-Queen Serenity of the Moon Kingdom, and I am very much interested in getting to know more about you and the C'thuwulf people you lead. May I respectfully request a direct one-on-one meeting here upon your Worldship."

"Ah...certainly...Neo-Queen Serenity...?" Iczer One began, hearing a faint echo in her mind from Nagisa's thoughts saying, **Moon Kingdom?**

Then Sakura gasped with recognition and said, "Aunt Usagi?"

"Hello?" the Queen replied, seeming to peer around the edges of Iczer One's holographically projected image, "Is that you, Sakura-chan? I didn't know you were out there..."

"Hah?" Troi blinked in surprise.

"Ah...well...it's kind of a long story, Auntie..." Sakura hesitated.

"Yes, I've been hearing a lot of that going around," Neo-Queen Serenity remarked in good humor, "Rini has been mentioning that you and your friends have gotten yourselves involved with these C'thuwulf to a rather...interesting extent...which reminds me...do you have, by chance, any idea where a warrior named Shiina Nami might be located?"

"Nami?" Iczer One almost groaned, "What has she been doing now...?"

"That is what I would like to know and hope to find out," Serenity replied, "I do believe that she has become a rather close...friend of my daughter. Do convey to her my express wish that we have an interview at her earliest convenience?"

"She's dead," Troi murmured, "Nami...we knew you well..."

"Sounds like somebody else I could mention?" another voice broke in on their communication.

"Huh?" Troi blinked again, then said, "Who's that breaking in on a secure channel?"

"After all these years you've forgotten all about me, I'm hurt," came a gently mocking male voice over the wires, "Not that I mean to be rude about it and all, but I've been directed by my commander that we would also like to request an audience with her Majesty to learn more about how she just performed that miraculous feat of saving our planet."

"Yajin!" Troi cried out with delight, "You old Dog, what are you doing out here?"

"Flying Wing with your reputed allies, of course," Yajin said with pleasantly roguish humor, "After all, our Hawks and Eagles helped run distraction for you when the enemy was looking to make a rude impact on the Worldship, so naturally my superiors are concerned about being excluded from negotiations with whatever sort of power it was that could wipe an entire Invasion force off the face of the planet."

"Yajin?" Sakura repeated, placing the name from something Troi had told her before concerning a past male relationship predating her knowing Troi by well over a decade.

"Be assured, Major Yajin, that we had no intention of excluding you from anything," Iczer One spoke up.

"I know that, One, but you'll have to forgive our so-called leaders for being a bit paranoid...after all, they're only human."

"And so are we...if you can overlook appearances," Neo-Queen Serenity smiled in warm acknowledgement, "And we will, of course, be more than willing to include any representatives of your organizations which may be concerned about our presence..."

Iczer One suddenly became aware that Sub-Commander Sepia was attempting to contact her again and said, "One moment, your Majesty...yes, Commander?"

"Disturbing news, Protector!" Sepia reported, "A technician just discovered a body in a regeneration cubicle that is presently inactive...and...it's Sayoko!"

"Sayoko?" Nagisa reacted, "What about Sayoko?"

"That's just it," Cobalt spoke up, "We don't know what to make of this. Her body is in perfect condition but it's being preserved in relative stasis...and no indications of Iczerio energy beyond the trace levels..."

"WHAT?" both Iczer One and Troi said together.

"Her Iczerio is gone?" Nagisa sounded no less shaken.

"We can't explain it...it's as if it's been stolen out of her," Cobalt replied, "Like something came along and absorbed Sayoko's life essence..."

"Oh no..." Iczer One softly exclaimed, "You don't mean...where is Iczer Two, my sister?"

"She left on a mission with Iczer Beta before the crisis hit," Sepia replied, "And we believe that she went to reconnoiter with Iczelion Warriors Nami, Kawai and Kiiro."

"Oh no...no way!" Troi exclaimed, "She couldn't have...? Even Two isn't that ruthless...is she?"

"It appears that she has done the unthinkable, sister," Iczer One cursed softly, "And I should have seen it coming! Our earlier conversations...the sense I had that she was preparing for the worst...like she was saying good-bye to us..."

"NO!" Troi reacted, "You don't mean she...?"

"Was planning a Kamikaze attack against Big Gold?" Nagisa concluded for her, "That does sound about Two's speed...and I wonder who else that reminds me of?"

"Ah...we're not going into that right now, Nagisa-chan," Iczer Two gently reminded, "And the issue here is Sayoko..."

"I know...poor Sayoko," Nagisa at once sympathized for her closest friend, "Having the soul ripped right out from her breast in order that an Iczer might achieve full Synchronization..."

Iczer One just winced slightly as Troi said, "I don't believe it! You don't mean...she's not...she isn't...she ain't...?"

"It gets worse," Cobalt informed them, "Subspace sensors are no longer picking up any signal emanating from crossover gate we detected."

"You mean the gate's no longer there?" Iczer One asked tensely.

"I mean that whatever was beyond the gate itself is no longer there," Cobalt explained, "The shadow world itself is gone...not even a trace remains beyond the point of threshold."

"Then...that means..." Nagisa started to say.

"It's gone?" Sakura asked, "You mean...she..."

"Destroyed Big Gold and her simulated dimension with her," Iczer One said grimly, "And she used the power of Sayoko's Iczerio to do it."

There was stunned silence upon hearing this pronouncement, then Sakura asked, "You mean...she's...also gone? Your sister...?"

"It was the kind of an ending that I know she would have wanted," Iczer One remarked, "My sister always felt like the sad legacy of the Gold Virus...she has never stopped feeling guilty about what she was before she joined our side and began fighting for what is right..."

"Two-you idiot!" Troi swore angrily, "How could you do this to us? To Sayoko? Aren't you always telling me that protecting a partner is an Iczer's highest duty?"

"Then she's really gone," Nagisa seemed almost numb at the realization, "Sayoko..."

"Is very much alive within me."

"What?" Troi reacted.

"Sister?" Iczer One spoke with a fervent note of wonder in her voice.

"I am sorry if I have distressed you with uncertainty," came the familiar voice of the dour redhead as Iczer Two appeared in the air before the two hovering Iczer Robos, "But if you will follow me back to base, then I will explain it all to your satisfaction, my Sisters."

"You'd better have an explanation ready!" Troi hotly declared, though Sakura could feel relief and joy flooding her partner's very being, "And after all the times you've gone off on me and read me the riot act-!"

"I know, little Sister," Iczer Two smiled almost fondly, "And perhaps you would be right to chew me out for my reckless performance...but it paid off, and you can't argue against the success of this enterprise."

"Then Big Gold is finally gone for good this time?" Iczer One asked.

"Gone completely, and her world with her," Iczer Two replied, "We've managed to recapture the Kuno siblings and have brought Neos Gold home in chains as our prisoner. I regret to say that four minions of Gold are still alive and at large, but they are the only ones to escape...the rest of Gold's forces, it seems, have been utterly annihilated."

"We know," Iczer One replied, "Report to base and we'll debrief each other and compare notes...Oh, and I take it you will be returning Sayoko's Iczerio to her body?"

"But of course," Iczer Two replied, "An Iczer is nothing without her partner, and I very much have intended all along to restore her when this was concluded..."

"That's nice to hear," came the similar-sounding voice of Cobalt, "Because I'd also love to hear the explanation for this one."

"And you shall have it, Mother," Iczer Two promised, "But first...I have a promise to keep with Sayoko."

With that she teleported back to Gamora base while Troi just glared and said, "If she thinks this is over, she's got another think coming..."

"Indeed, my sentiments exactly," Iczer One related, then turned back to her other party line and said, "My apologies, your Majesty, some important business must be attended to before we can have that meeting."

"It's just as well," Sir Violet noted, "It will take some time to gather up the Earth representatives that we will need for such a meeting, but I do take it that you and Nagisa will be on hand to conduct negotiations?"

"Try keeping us away," Nagisa said confidently, "I, for one, look forward to meeting this lady."

"And I most certainly look forward to meeting you both...and Nami, if she's available," Neo-Queen Serenity further noted.

"I'll see to it that she and her friends are available," Iczer One promised, "But for now...you will excuse me. I have to go back to Gamora base so that I can find and spank my younger sister."

"Sounds like fun," Troi smirked, "Can I watch?"

"Same old Troi," mused the still-eavesdropping Yajin.

"Yajin, huh?" Sakura rumbled in an ominous way that conveyed itself to her partner.

"Huh?" Troi blinked, "Something the matter down there, Honey?"

"That all depends," Sakura replied, adding softly, "I think I'd also like the chance to meet with this Yajin fellow and...get to know him."

"Ah..." Troi was suddenly nervous, "What about?"

"That's what I'm hoping to find out...Sugar," Sakura noted sweetly in tones that in no way reassured the Iczer and indeed did serve to make her to suddenly feel quite nervous...

General Edward Straker was not a man easy to impress or satisfy, so the news that his subordinate had just supplied him came as a welcome break from the usual routine of bad news that had been crossing his desk of late. He looked her in the eyes and with that piercing stare of his asked directly, "You are sure about these reports?"

"Positive, Sir," Operational Commander Virginia Lake replied, "It's been confirmed by outside sources, as well as by the C'thuwulf themselves. The enemy known as Big Gold has been totally eradicated with only a few of her servants still among the living. Neos Gold herself has been taken prisoner to be tried by their command structure, who are best equipped for dealing with her anyway, while four lesser servants are still at large but are to be considered as less of a problem."

"Excellent," Straker nodded, "Then I should schedule a visit to New Gamora to personally speak with Iczer One and Nagisa upon the conclusion of their war. Please make the necessary arrangements."

"Very good, Sir," Virginia replied in suitably prim British propriety, "However...you might wish to hold off a bit until things become a bit more settled. I understand that the C'thuwulf are in communication with the Senshi ruler known as Neo Queen Serenity, with whom they appear to share a similar background."

"You don't say?" Straker's eyes sharpened in their focus, "Tsukino Usagi has contacted them directly?"

"Evidently so," Virginia replied, "Considering that she was the one who banished the Venomoid menace using that Moon Scepter that she inherited from her mother. The unfortunate thing is that this has come to the attention of SHIELD, and they may initiate their own investigation into the matter..."

"Which might lead to areas that we'd rather keep buried," Straker nodded rather grimly, "I'm not faulting Usagi for her choices, and she certainly has every right initiating contact with the C'thuwulf, but showing off her powers the way she did will certainly alarm certain people in certain quarters..."

"Which might lead in turn to their asking exactly what the Senshi are and just how powerful they truly are...and what they represent about the secret history of the Sol System," Virginia concluded for him, "Which is why I thought it best to bring it to your attention."

"Hmmm...as much as I hate to admit it, we might have to bring the MIB in on this one," Straker grimly avowed, "Better that than having certain agencies asking the wrong questions about Project Crystal Tokyo..."

"Indeed," Virginia replied, "More than ordinary misdirection will be needed to deflect their interest from seeking to interfere with the future operations of the Senshi. Perhaps a cover story will have to be devised misleading them away from the truth of the matter..."

"That could only work if we use a liberal amount of the truth to lace it with convincing details that they'd be able to accept even at close examination," Straker avowed, "But your plan is workable. Have some of our people get to work on it on the double."

"That command has already been given to Lieutenant Honey Wincott and her team," Virginia replied, "We should see results before too long. In the meantime, do advice our C'thuwulf allies and the Senshi that some appropriate level of discretion will need to be practiced in the future."

"I'll seriously consider doing just that," Straker said dryly as he studied his second-in-command, "Have Alec rendezvous with the Worldship and advise them to the possible implications. In the meantime continue supervising the clean-up operations. Those Venomoids may be gone, but there's no sense taking chances that they might have left some nasty surprises behind that weren't banished with a wave of a Moon Wand."

"And if our people do encounter anything extraordinary?" Virginia asked.

"Have them contact the C'thuwulf but do not pursue matters on their own," Straker stressed, "I'd rather people equipped for dealing with this level of technology be on hand, so assign two Iczelion agents to supervise operations."

"Very good, Sir," Virginia nodded, "And do have a pleasant flight back to Japan. Your personal shuttle will be ready for sub-orbital flight by the time you reach the airport."

"The way traffic snarls up around Heathrow this time of year?" Straker gave a rare smile of wry humor, "That's practically a given."

"By the way," Virginia said as she watched her superior rise up from his desk and head towards the door to his office, "Have you any advice for Paul in opening these negotiations?"

"Tell him not to give away the planet," Straker replied with dry, sardonic American wit, "We're still making payments after the last time."

"Very true," Virginia noted, being certain to log the recommendation into her note pad...

"It's not use," Fiber revealed after a long, intense probing of the two cocoon-  
wrapped Kuno siblings presently being subjected to her diagnostic tendrils, "Whatever process Big Gold used to remake their bodies has had a more-or-less permanent effect in warping their genetic structure. Even using Perm-san's bio-  
patterns for a template here I cannot fully separate the modifications made to their baseline DNA without risking tearing them apart. Their nervous systems are fully integrated into their Biochemical Bionics, and if these modifications were removed directly it would risk killing the patient."

"Can't you do anything to help them?" Perm asked in some distress.

"What I can do for them I have already begun," Fiber replied, "I have purged Big Gold's programming from their systems, restored as much of their original personality matrixes as I could salvage and have modified their alterations so that they can at least pass for normal human beings without too close an examination. They will never again be as you remember them, and in some ways they will remain machines of war, inherently very dangerous to both themselves and those around them, but otherwise..."

"Are you sure you should restore their normal personalities?" Muku nervously asked.

"Yeah," Yui agreed, "No offense to Perm-san here, but their original salves were major-league Jerks and complete Bakas. I'd rather you gave them better personalities if you can work it."

"Unfortunately I cannot pick and choose what they will be like from hereon," Fiber warned them, "In fact I am loathe to do anything that would be completely against their intrinsic natures. There is a risk in directly opposing the will of the patient when it comes to making alterations of this nature, and if they actively fought against me they could damage themselves even further. Besides which...I fear I must relate this...these two voluntarily accepted their modifications with only a minimum of personality alteration. I think they actually welcome the changes on a certain level, and they would actively fight to oppose being forced to give them up, and that would further damage them both..."

"I see," Cologne remarked, now returned to her normal appearance as a shrunken old hag perched atop her own staff, "Well then...I thank you for trying, and for rendering such assistance as you are able..."

"I only wish that I could do more for your great-great granddaughter and grandson," Fiber replied, bowing respectfully as she added, "Respected Elder of the Joketsuzoku."

"I can see that you leaned more from young Master Tenma than how to bow and scrape and bend," Cologne replied, "There will be another day when a positive reckoning will be made on behalf of all those who were victims of Neos Gold and her evil, but that on that day you will have proven yourself a friend to both the Amazons and all people who look to the light for their guidance."

"Indeed," Iczer Two remarked, "And I should like to know more about what has caused such a miraculous transformation in both character and consciousness of you four...but then again, I suppose that I am hardly one to complain about sudden changes in allegiance."

"And on that score," said Iczer One, "I confess that I am dying to hear more about how you plotted and brought about the end of Big Gold's reign of terror, Sister."

"Ah," Iczer Two remarked as she turned to fully regard her two sisters, both older and younger, the latter of whom was glowering up a storm, "I was just about to get to that part, One. In point of fact, however, I thought it best to include our new allies in the lengthier part of this discussion, to which end I have taken the liberty of establishing a channel with the Worldship now that we are at liberty to sort out our loose ends."

At that the holographic image of Sir Violet and the Senshi appeared in the open space of Sister Grey's laboratory complex, at which point Yui gulped, seeing her mother among numbered among these special guests in virtual attendance.

"Swell," Troi growled, "The gang's all here, so why don't you cut to the chase and give us the low down about what you've been plotting on your own, Two, behind our backs."

"Very well, Imotochan," Iczer Two made a point of stressing the latter word just to see her younger sister bristle slightly under the implied condescension, "My report is thus: some time ago, shortly after Big Gold began her latest onslaught, I determined that the threat she constituted was of such a grave and looming nature that extraordinary means would be required in order to bring her career to an end once and forever. The escalating nature of her recent attacks suggested that the earlier ones were merely probing forays to determine the strength of our defenses. It stood to reason that she would, over time, judge that she had done enough probing and would launch an attack of such a scale and nature that our defenses would be literally overwhelmed. Failing that, she was certain to keep on trying until she devised a scheme of sufficient wickedness that it would be the literal straw that broke the camels back of our unity. It is fortunate for us that she failed to take into account or to adequately rate the Earth's defenders, our human allies, who proved not so inconsequential as to be ignored in the final tally."

"Right," said Nagisa, "So you figured on doing a Kamikaze strike to take her out once and for all by your lonesome...and for that you needed to achieve full Synchronization with Sayoko...so why did you have to kill her?"

"I only temporarily stopped her heart, Nagisa-chan," Iczer Two corrected, "I preserved her body in a prepared regeneration chamber so that she could resume living once our mission was finally over. Yes, you are right to assume that this mission was sufficiently dangerous that there loomed a high probability that I would not be able to survive it, but there was an even greater probability that Sayoko herself would not have been able to withstand the level of combat that resulted when I finally did confront my evil step-mother. Her body, after all, is not as resilient as mine, so I knew that it had to be protected, and that meant leaving her shell behind while her soul journeyed within me."

"You were deliberately attempting to duplicate the act by which I defeated Big Gold in the past," Iczer One said in a level voice, "You as much as warned me that you were going to do it, but I failed to properly listen."

"You are not to blame for that, Sister," Iczer Two replied, "But there is a basic flaw in your analogy. What you did more than twenty years in the past was use Nagisa's Iczerio to achieve full Synchronization, at which point you confronted and defeated Big Gold and destroyed her physical host, then the machine intelligence infesting the Worldship. You absorbed her powers into yourself and gained near godly levels of energy, which then you used to recreate the very timeline itself. You did it for us, for all of us, to insure that we would live again, all those of us who were victims of Gold's rampage...but you did make one critical error in accomplishing a reality in which Big Gold never took the Worldship over nor conquered the Earth..."

"Because Big Gold still existed," Nagisa realized, "You didn't void what happened on your people's homeworld, Ichan, because that would voided your own reality."

"Yes," Iczer One sighed, "I couldn't go back far enough to prevent the discovery of the Gold virus. There were limits on my abilities, and voiding the discovery of the ancient Venomoid creation would have been too much of an alteration to the timeline. I only banished her from this reality so that she never merged with Sir Violet or corrupted our people."

"And so she still existed, but no longer was she a part of this reality," Sir Violet herself duly noted, "In effect you banished her to a state of Limbo beyond even the realm of Subspace..."

"Exactly so, Mother of us All," Iczer Two replied, "Yet Gold was so powerful an entity, so devoted to her purpose for creation, which was nothing less than to destroy the C'thuwulf and everything for which we stood, so she could not perish as she had when you battled her. Some part of her survived to create Neos Gold, who then carried the Virus to the stars and wrecked havoc on other worlds. Neos in turn spawned other horrors like herself, such as the Gray Twins, by finding potential allies among the stars and converting them into her dutiful minions."

"Which is why we were created," Fiber spoke up, "Neos found each of us at a point when we were desperate enough to merge with an alien monster like her in order to gain revenge against those whom we rightly or wrongly believed had wronged us..."

"We sacrificed our humanity," Insect noted.

"What we had of it anyway," Bigro conceded.

"She turned out weaknesses into strength and our strength into an extension of her own hatred," Golem concluded, "And as her minions we passed along that hate through a rampage of destruction aimed at carving out a power among the stars upon which Neos-sama could build a new empire."

"So Big Gold may have died but a part of her lived on in you, huh?" Troi mused, "Makes sense, I guess. But what happened when I took Neos out? How did Gold recreate you guys after you all got destroyed in battle?"

"We may have perished upon this world, Mother," Atros replied, "But enough of our raw essence remained that Gold could draw us into her own world and recreate us as her new minions."

"That is precisely what happened to the others who were part and parcel of her campaign of destruction," Iczer Two remarked. I had some hint that Gold might still exist when Neos had effected my own recreation. I always wondered how it was that she could revive me from death when-according to the logic of this world never having been invaded by Gold-I should not by right even exist. Only by tapping into the shadow-world that had to still exist on a different level of reality could my remains have been uncovered...and if I still existed in that other realm, then logically the world that the Venomoids had invaded must exist also...and it was being maintained by no less than the Gold entity, who had survived in that pocket dimension by the force of her own will to self-  
existence."

"Then this realm where Gold lived is the one where you actually originated," Neo Queen Serenity observed politely.

"It was the world as it might exist if fate had never been altered and Big Gold were allowed to rule over humanity triumphant," Iczer Two explained, "Think of it as a world without Iczers, the mirror opposite of this one, only its existence was tenuously held together by Gold herself, who effectively became the Nexus of her own recreation. Our reality...the one created by my sister...is the overlay that existed on top of that corrupt foundation, and given that it was only a matter of time before Gold would find a way to cross over between the dimensional boundaries in search of her vengeance."

"So, in effect I am to blame for all that has happened?" Iczer One asked softly.

"Not at all, Sister," Iczer Two shook her head, "You recreated this reality in order to spare us the horrors of the world that Gold created, and you not to blame that we all forgot to explore the question of whether or not that world had been banished forever. The point is that I knew at once that on this realm Gold had the resources of the entire planet upon which to draw for valuable resources, and over time she had tightened her hold over this shadow-reality to rule as an absolute dictator of near-Godlike stature. With an entire world at her disposal her resources were virtually limitless, so there was no way that we could win a war of attrition against her. There was, however, a way of turning the bubble-nature of her reality against her, but to do that we would need to send someone who was physically compatible with the world, someone who belonged to it on a quantum level and could resonate with its dimensional structure just long enough to eliminate the Gold Virus."

"Sort of like a Trojan Horse thing, right?" Ken asked.

"Precisely," Iczer Two remarked, "I was the logical candidate, being Big Gold's creation, and I knew what could be expected from her. I staged my attack as a means of distracting her into thinking that I would be attempting to destroy her directly, exactly in the manner that One used in the past. It had been twenty years since that strategy was hatched, however, so it was logical to deduce that she would have prepared formidable defenses to make a direct confrontation a far less certain outcome. That was why I planned to have the real attack come from a different angle, by using my Iczer Robo as the delivery system for a concentrated and improved version of the Anti-Gold virus."

"Which you had me prepare in advance before your attack," Sister Grey duly noted.

"I see what you're getting at," Troi said with dawning realization, "You sacrificed your own Iczer Robo, knowing perfectly well that Gold would try to grab it, thinking you had Sayoko with you..."

"And instead the hastened her own demise by absorbing the Anti-Virus directly into her own relay systems," Iczer One concluded rather somberly, "Logical and ruthless, as was your sacrifice of Sayoko to make this happen."

"It was necessary," Iczer Two replied, "But-thankfully-easily reversible. I retain the Iczerio energies of both Sayoko and Iczer Beta within my central matrix. Both can be revived now that the threat is ended, and thanks to the Anti-Virus working systemically, Big Gold cannot reconstitute herself as her central matrix has been totally disrupted."

"How sad that it had to come to this," Nagisa sighed, "I know that she was evil down to the very core of her logic basis, but she represented so much that was lost from your homeworld..."

"We don't need the part that Gold embodied to recreate what was lost," Sir Violet averred, "Earth is now our new homeworld, and we have built a stronger civilization based on the ties which we now share with the human civilization."

"So...this Big Gold creep is gone for good?" Ranma asked, speaking up after a long time of silently absorbing these new revelations.

"Utterly and irrevocably," Iczer Two replied, "By the resonant formula of Sympathy and Contagion, the Anti-Virus spread throughout the shadow world and disrupted her matrix. Understand, as a Virus her primary function was to preserve and perpetuate her own existence. She was the creation of a race our people fought and destroyed many countless ages ago, a part of their evil that refused to die, who embodied the hate of their race and only existed to insure the Venomoid species would live again by preying upon the genetic material of new hosts, be they C'thuwulf or Human. Once I understood that they were, in essence-an organic Virus with an extremely complex genetic composition, it was simple enough to craft the Anti-Virus by attacking their genetic make-up at certain key factors typical of their own species but not found among humans."

"And then I finished the task by using my Moon Scepter to eradicate what was left upon the surface of the Earth," Serenity deduced.

"For which we are all eternally grateful," Iczer Two replied, turning away as she headed towards a particular regeneration chamber, "But now that we have concluded that business, it's time that I keep my promise to Sayoko. I know that I risked everything in borrowing her essence to fortify my own chances of survival, but I also knew that with her inside me I had an even stronger reason to live and be triumphant."

"Because an Iczer's highest law is to defend and protect her partner," Iczer One deduced, "And you knew that the only way to protect Sayoko was to defeat Big Gold and come back alive."

"For which I would give all that I have to make certain," Iczer Two replied as she caressed her hands against the surface of the regeneration pod, then paused as she seemed to sway on her feet a moment before glowing softly from within. A moment later a ghostly image flowed from her into the body inside the tube, at which point various systems became activated all about the chamber, the pod itself becoming more energetic.

And then Sayoko's eyes fluttered open and for a moment she seemed to look around in some confusion, only to see Iczer Two smiling in relief up at her and saying softly, "My love...you live again."

"I...do...?" Sayoko asked, then the bio-amniotic fluid drained away from the pod as the lid hissed open pneumatically. Iczer Two stepped back as Sayoko began to sit up, then attempted to stand on her own feet, only to find her partner there lending an arm to support her.

"Are you well, Sayoko-san?" Iczer One asked.

"Ah...sort of..." Sayoko blinked then said, "Was I dead just a minute ago?"

"Well...sort of," Nagisa replied, "But you got better."

Another pause, then Sayoko glanced up at her partner, "You killed me?"

"I'm sorry about that, my love," Iczer Two replied, "It was necessary, but I promise I won't ever do that to you again."

"You killed me," Sayoko shook her head as she started to stand more on her own feet, "I don't believe it. You took my soul and went to fight Big Gold...and you didn't even ask first?"

"Ah...well..." Iczer Two wilted slightly.

"You remember what happened, Sayoko-chan?" Troi asked.

"Pretty much," Sayoko turned back to her partner, "It was like watching everything happen in a movie...only I was a part of it all. Weird..."

"We were in full synchronization, my Love," Iczer Two explained, "We were-in effect-one being..."

"Hey, I can figure out why you did what you did and what we accomplished together," Sayoko responded, "But would it have hurt you to explain it to me first before you went ahead and did that?"

"I...I'm sorry," Iczer Two replied, "I knew you would agree with my decision, but I did not want to burden you with having to make such a decision for yourself. I wanted to come back to you in triumph, and I knew I would fight harder knowing that the life of our child depended on having both parents to raise her. You understand and believe me, don't you Sayoko-chan?"

"Oh, I understand all right," Sayoko said as she moved away from her partner, "And I believe you, and you know I would have said yes if you asked...IF YOU HAD ASKED!" she turned and said, "Excuse me...Sakura-chan? Mind if I borrow this from you for a minute?"

"Huh?" Sakura asked as the naked older woman took her baker's peel from her back, then turned to confront her suddenly nervous partner.

"Now then," Sayoko raised the bakers peel high and advanced upon Iczer Two, "About taking something without asking me first-!"

"Yipes!" Iczer Two gave a yelp, turned around and started running as a wrathful Sayoko gave chase with her borrowed weapon.

"Ah...true love," Ukyo smiled as she took her husband by the arm, "Sorta brings back memories of when we were younger, eh, Ranchan?"

"Oh yeah," Ranma chucked, "Painful memories, but lots of fun ones to go with it..."

"Grown ups," Tenma growled.

"Yeah, tell me about it," her purple-haired twin agreed.

Sakura gave the two boys a worried look and said, "Uh...just for the record...?"

"Say hello to your new Cousin, Chima," Ukyo smiled, "He's going to be staying with us for a while since we just adopted him into the clan, Sugar."

"What?" Sakura paled, "You mean...TWO OF THEM? Under the same roof?"

"Better get used to it, Sis," Tenma smiled.

"We're bigger than the both of you combined," Chima added.

"Wow, little brothers in stereo," Troi remarked, "Good thing for the hair color or you'd have trouble telling 'em apart."

"My worst nightmare come to life," Sakura groaned faintly.

"Cheer up, Kid," Ranma said, "You'll get used to it before you know it...I think. Well, anyway...about you and Ken...and this business about you two seeing other people..."

"Urk," both Sakura and Troi gulped together, even as Ken and Atros looked nervously in their Uncle's direction...

"On a separate issue," Iczer One turned to regard her daughter and partner, "I understand from Two that you and your sisters carried the day in the final battle against Neos. I am very proud of you all...you fought as sisters in support of one another."

"Thank you, Mother," Rhea replied, "Nova and Atros did very well, but we could not have achieved our victory without the support of our partners."

"Hey, we're in this together, Honey, isn't that how it's supposed to be?" Muku asked.

"Guess we're stuck together whether we like it or not," Yui rubbed the back of her head with a somewhat uneasy expression.

"Aw, don't be like that, Yui-chan," Nova took her partner by the arm and leaned her head against her shoulder, "I promise you that it'll be loads of fun and you won't have anything to worry about with me at your side, honest!"

"Except maybe with having you inside my pants," Yui softly murmured, hoping her mother was not able to pick that up from her end of the holographic transfer.

"It was...an honor to be of service when there was need, Aunt One," Atros said, "But...what is to become of us now that the crisis to the Earth is at long last over?"

"Ah...a very good question," Iczer One replied, exchanging looks with Nagisa before turning to regard Sir Violet and saying, "Do I have your support in this, Mother of us All?"

"You have always had my full and complete support, Child," Sir Violet replied, "Whatever you decide, I am certain it will be for the best interests of us all."

The Protector and Leader of the C'thuwulf gave a rare smile at that then said, "Very well then. Atros and Nova...you are granted full and complete amnesty for any and all past crimes that you may have committed in the name of Big Gold, provisional that you will both be remanded to the direct authority of your respective parents, most principally Nagisa. This parole will be in force so long as you demonstrate your good faith with your future actions. As for the Sisters of the Comet..."

"We stand ready to answer for our crimes, Protector," Fiber said at once, "My sisters and I regret that we have caused great suffering throughout the Universe..."

"All of which was instigated under the influence of Neos Gold," Iczer One replied, "Understand, though, we cannot simply let you go. Your powers have magnified beyond even what they were when we first knew you, but if you are willing to work with us, then we can give you a home as part of New Gamora. Tell me what you would do if you were allowed your freedom under the parole of our supervision?"

"What would I do?" Fiber smiled, "I would become a teacher and healer, just as someone taught me that there is greater joy to be found in sharing life than there is in its taking."

"I would like to go back to being a research scientist," Insect replied, "There are many forms of life on this planet you call Earth, and by far the dominant life form of any world is its insect population...intelligent life notwithstanding."

"As long as there is no conflict between your research and the security of human life on this world, I don't see any problems with that," Iczer One replied, "And what of you others?"

"Insect prefers her world of the small," Bigro replied, "But Animal research is my specialty, and I have no doubt that there are a great many interesting species to be studied on this world. I understand that some are in danger of becoming extinct...?"

"We have a program to bio-engineer the return of several endangered species," Iczer One replied, "And, no doubt, your contributions in that field would be greatly appreciated. I will allow Sister Grey to coordinate matters on that end and see to it you are assigned to areas where your talents will be of value. And what about you...Golem, is it?"

"Machines are my specialty," Golem replied, "I'm done with being an engine of war, I'd like to go back to my favorite hobby of designing things that are fast and ultra-modern."

"Then I'm sure we'll find a suitable use for you," Iczer One smiled, "Something worthy of your talents. Perhaps you might care to work with our human allies in the space field...they could stand the services of a good mechanic who understands technology on an intuitive level."

"Then that's all that I ask," Golem smiled, "It would be good to feel the stellar winds of space on my wings again, and I'll be certain to show these humans my stuff when it comes to exploration."

"Sounds like somebody I'd like to get to know better," a new voice added in as a male figure appeared in holographic relief besides Sir Violet and the Senshi.

"Yajin, you pirate!" Troi grinned broadly, "What are you doing up there?"

"Somebody thought I'd make a good diplomat, go figure," Yajin replied, turning to scan Sakura with a rakish look in his eyes, "And who's this, your newest victim?"

"Victim?" Sakura arched an eyebrow.

"She's my partner, Space Rat," Troi cheerfully warned him, "So hands off. She's too fast for you anyway..."

"That's what you said about the last girl you hung out with," Yajin gave Sakura a sympathetic nod and said, "You actually keeping up with this Outlaw? Don't let her intimidate you, her bark's definitely not as bad as her bite..."

"Oh, like you'd know all about that," Troi scoffed.

"Hey, I still have the marks to prove it," Yajin reached for his shirt, "Want me to show you?"

"Who is that?" Golem asked with an intrigued look in her normally dour expression.

"You ought to know him," Nagisa said, "He once took a shot at you, remember?"

"Oh really?" Golem's eyes gleamed with speculation, "You mean this is the human who dented my favorite armor?"

"Ah..." Yajin paused as he suddenly took notice of the extra persons appearing in the holographic display on his side of the projection, "Excuse me for asking...but...aren't you guys...ah...supposed to be dead or something?"

"We get a lot of that," Bigro smiled.

"We're used to it by now," Insect seconded.

"So," Sakura finally said as she studied Yajin, a rather handsome looking Japanese male wearing an aluminum-colored space suit that managed to add a bit of dignity to his somewhat wild appearance, "You guys used to date, huh?"

"Ah...ancient history, Honey-pie," Troi hastily explained, "We're just friends now, right Yajin?"

"Oh yeah...friends, as in neither one of us has managed to kill the other one yet," Yajin replied in good-natured humor.

"So...you two used to be an item," Golem softly mused, "Better and better..."

"By the way," Serenity spoke up after having been respectfully silent for the past few minutes, "I was given to understand that a certain party would be appearing at this meeting..."

"You need wait no longer, your Highness," Iczer One smiled as she turned to see a trio of familiar faces entering the room at that most appropriate moment.

"We're here, just as you requested, Protector," the blonde-haired Nami announced.

"By the way," Kawai said to Nagisa, "We passed Sayoko chasing after Iczer Two in the hallways, naked a s jay and waving this big spatula about..."

"Yeah, what was that about anyway?" Kiiro wondered.

"Nothing too important," Iczer One replied, waving to the holographic presence and saying, "I'd like to introduce you three to an honored guest of the C'thuwulf who has been asking to meet you. Say hello to Neo-Queen Serenity of the...Moon Kingdom, was it?"

"Yes," Serenity responded, "A very ancient and long-extinct civilization that my Senshi and I have recently revived through the magic of our ancestors, but...that can wait for another time. The important thing is...I do believe that you are a friend of my daughter's, are you not?"

"Mom!" Rini winced, looking embarrassed.

"Your...daughter?" Nami looked from the pink-haired Princess to the golden haired Moon Queen and suddenly she seemed to be finding herself on the spotlight, "Ah..."

At that moment Sailor Hermes leaned over and stage-whispered to Princess Rini, "Better think fast, and don't mention what she does for a living. And if your Dad should find out..."

"Shut...up," Rini whispered rather fervently, glancing at her mother, who was pretending not to overhear this recently added information.

"And I thought I had problems," Yui softly murmured.

"Huh?" Nova looked at her with an earnest expression, "Problems? What problems, Yui-chan?"

"Forget it," Muku spoke up for her friend, "If you have to ask then you'll never really understand."

"Hey, I'm trying," Nova protested, "Give me a frigging break, I'm only just getting used to being around you humans. Toss me a bone or something, Sis...what's it I'm not getting about humans?"

"That," Rhea said with a pleasant smile, "Is a very interesting and...quite complicated subject. Why don't we talk about it later, Sister, both you, me and Atros?"

"Oh?" Atros asked with a guarded expression, "Is there something that I should know in advance about humans?"

"You want the long or short answer to that one, Kid?" Troi replied with a soft chuckle, gently squeezing Sakura's hand while trying to think up a way of deflecting her partner from too many intimate questions about Yajin.

Muku turned to Rhea and said, "Well, don't know if I can explain too much about us Humans, but, for what it's worth, most times we don't even understand our selves, let alone each other...but we're always trying."

"And what's what makes it so worthwhile, Sisters," Rhea's smile was like pure sunshine, "You never entirely find out everything that there is to know, but you never tire of trying, and you wouldn't want it any different, believe me. A partnership is a complicate affair, but it never becomes dull...and-for what it is worth-I don't think they will ever entirely understand us either."

"But I want to know everything about you, Rhea-chan," Muku took her partner's hand and pressed it gently to her own palm, "And I promise you...I'll never stop trying."

To which Nagisa turned to her own partner and shared a knowing look, then silently the both of them wished the younger generation a long and hearty search in the quest for full, complete and ultimate synchronization...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Civil Affairs and C'thuwulf Weddings: shadowmane

Think it's all over yet? Not until the Fat Lady sings! It's a new day dawning over Furinkan when the Second-generation sisters Iczer set to work on building upon their relationships with their mutual partners, and life gets back to sub-  
normal around Nerima. Be with us next time for: "A Day in the Strife," or, "A Pocket Full of Stardust Mammories!" Be there!

X -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: . All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works. 


	44. Chapter 44

Earthchild44

The Earthchild

(An Iczer/Ranma/Sailor Moon Crossover)

by Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi,  
Naoko Takeuchi, Toshihiro Hirano,  
&amp; Hitoshi Okuda, with ideas and suggestions by TH Tiger and Johannes Huber)

Chapter Forty-Four.

"Very well then, Gentlemen...do I take it that we are all in agreement?"

The other members of the elite Central Committee for the organization known only by the code-name of SEELE affirmed their assent on the matter. These powerful MEN (and by that one most definitely did imply the masculine term of gender affiliation) were used to voting in the silence and security of electronic meetings of this nature. Their very anonymity gave them a sense of elite superiority, much as secret cabals and Illuminati-like conspiracies have always been impressed with a belief in their inherently aloof position, representing as they did many of the most powerful governing institutions on the planet, both Multinational Corporate Interests and Governing bodies (often without the direct knowledge or involvement of the elected figureheads to whom they delegated the public responsibilities of executive office). As such they felt entitled to vote upon the issues that affected the fate of humankind with no pretense of being the least bit concerned with obtaining a consensus from the very populace they presumed to govern.

On this occasion the matter before them was very grave, as the designated chairman of this meeting was quick to point out, "Very well...then we are in agreement that the current crisis, so recently resolved, is of sufficient gravity that it warrants further investigation. The motion has been made, seconded and affirmed by this advisory body that these C'thuwulf-by their very nature-represent a serious concern to the future welfare of the planet."

One of the other Councilors signified that he wished to voice his opinion, and the chairman recognized him, so without preamble this worthy declared, "So far we have been content to deal with them as our allies, seeing much to be gained through technology transfers and the treaty of Mutual defense that has been demonstrated so effectively in resolving the matter of this invasion. However, in upholding their part in the defense of this world, the C'thuwulf have demonstrated the full level of their abilities to an extent that we could heretofore only speculate about through projections and models. Indeed, the level of their abilities has been show to far exceed anything we even imagined in our worse-case projections, and-worse still...they have effectively doubled the number of their Bioroid-powered giant Mecha. They now represent an effective military presence that vastly exceeds our own capabilities, which means that they are now effectively the dominant half of our alliance."

"This is most distressing," another Councilor ventured, "Until now we have operated under the assumption that these C'thuwulf could be dealt with if they should prove to become a serious problem. Having them locate themselves in a fixed position under Tokyo central has been an ideal means of keeping them right where we want them...at least in terms of an Earth presence. We've been able to manage their gradual integration of their population into the general mix of Earth society by selecting key personnel and establishing them in places of influence under the guise of eventual assimilation. But now it seems as if our carefully controlled scenario is about to be shot right out of the metaphorical window."

"The situation is proving to be untenable," another Councilor admitted when his turn came up for recognition, "Before too long it will be them who will be dictating terms to us in regards to our alliance, and I don't need to remind the rest of you what that could mean should the C'thuwulf succeed in disseminating some of their values into the general lot of society itself?"

"Our esteemed colleague from the Middle East has an understandable reluctance about advancing the civil rights issues these C'thuwulf promote into the society that he represents," the Chairman acknowledged, "But there is more at stake here than granting total equal rights to all women and the recognition of same-sex partnering as a viable lifestyle option. There are enough aliens on this planet demanding an extension of laws protecting their own distinctive cultural or biological imperatives. What matters here is Power, and it has been plainly shown that the C'thuwulf have that in abundance. Were they to seek to dictate changes in policies to us, as matters presently stand, we would be in a most unfavorable position to resist their prerogatives. However, we still remain in control of the major media outlets, giving us the ability to shape public opinion to our tastes and desires, and our influence in the major institutional Religious bodies assures that we have a ready core of salivating fanatics ready to march en mass against any government seeking to liberalize official policies. No, my friends, the threat does not come from the values options being favored by these C'thuwulf...the threat comes from the C'thuwulf themselves and their technological superiority, which is admittedly light years ahead of our best Terrestrial designs..."

Another Councilor signified that he wished to speak, and so the Chairman yielded the floor to him, "What about gaining control over these C'thuwulf directly, much as we've managed to do with the planet's hero population?"

"That approach is fraught with difficulties, but we are exploring it as a possible option," the Chairman replied, "Most hero organizations, such as the Avengers and the Justice League, or even our own pet Stormwatch itself, try to work within the legal boundaries that we set for them, as annoying as it must be for them to have to jump through the bureaucratic hoops that we use to curtail their activities to insure that they never pose a legitimate threat to the interests of this advisory body. The C'thuwulf, however, are effectively a governing body over whom we have-at best-limited access and even less in the way of influence. They have ties to SHIELD, SHADO and SPECTRUM that are useful, but the C'thuwulf leadership is very reluctant to share with us their more advanced technological secrets for fear that such knowledge might be abused in the wrong hands. Thus, at best, we only know a little bit about how their Organic technology works, and it could take decades before we know enough to become as proficient as they are in their gene splicing."

"By which time they will have integrated themselves more thoroughly into our world than we have even projected," yet another Councilor noted, "At which point we might as well give up on resisting them and start accepting women into this advisory body."

The suggestion was met with rude guffaws and a general sense of dismissal at so absurd a concept. Despite a century and a half of civil rights prevailing throughout the world itself, Suffrage had never been a priority for this particular institution. For all of the centuries that their group had been in existence (in one form or another, under one name or banner, depending on the prevailing social climate) there had never been even a hint of allowing a woman to sully the inner chamber with the scent of Estrogen. This was Testosterone Territory, and no one had best make any suggestions to the contrary in their presence.

To such a body of MEN, the very notion of a Female-Exclusive society had come as much of a shock as discovering that men were obsolete and unnecessary to the C'thuwulf methods for reproduction. By their very nature the C'thuwulf posed a threat to SEELE and everything that the organization had dedicated itself towards becoming, and-far more alarming still-these C'thuwulf had a tendency to mess up and interfere in SEELE's plans on a number of occasions. For them women were just a means to an end, a method for reproduction and recreation and nothing more. To think of such women as having power over the fate of the planet itself was beyond unthinkable, it was an altogether intolerable situation!

An intolerable situation, however, that they had been forced to live with for the better part of a decade, knowing all the while that they lacked the means for effectively "dealing" with these women in a decisive means that befit their own collective inclinations. Coupled with that was the knowledge that the C'thuwulf could still be occasionally **useful,** such as when encountering alien menaces who did not balk at other means for making their presence felt upon the planet.

"What about the Senshi problem?" someone spoke up out of turn, "Didn't the Moon Queen just demonstrate that she is potentially an even greater menace to our plans than the C'thuwulf?"

"Only if you take her and the Senshi who serve her as a viable threat," another Councilor dismissed, "And for all their raw power, they are still effectively human and thus well within the sphere of our influence."

"These C'thuwulf are a different matter," a third pointed out, "We have no leverage over them, and they are free to act unilaterally in what they deem is their best interest, knowing full well that we would be powerless to stop them should they choose to use leverage against us."

"A good thing for us that they don't know that we exist as an advisory ruling body," a forth noted.

"We hope," said the firth Councilor, his tone conveying what was the general consensus for the entire Council.

"You all see the general dilemma that is confronting us," the Chairman summarized, "But as yet you only see the symptoms, not the solution itself. That is why this meeting has been called, after all...to insure that we develop a counterbalance to these C'thuwulf that can turn the technological impasse to our advantage."

He knew he had their rapt attention, but being a consummate showman, the Chairman decided to keep them guessing for a few minutes longer.

"As you well know," he began again, "Our world has been faced with a looming crisis for the past few centuries that has daunted many of our predecessors and forebears...namely, what to do about our excess population and its impact on influencing the environment. Of key concern to all of us is the question of managing whatever crisis presently confronts us so that we can remain in control of whatever direction the Earth should happen to follow..."

"You mean engineer another crisis?" one Councilor asked skeptically, "After what happened the last three times we tried to enact the scenarios adopted by this Council?"

"True, the C'thuwulf have interfered with our attempts to put our long-range plans into operation on at lest three prior occasions," the Chairman replied, "The first two times, however, worked to our advantage. Our attempt to trigger a nuclear event upon the moon by storing spent atomic waste material in a central location showed likely promise in being able to create a projected calamity by sending the Moon out of orbit, which would have caused tidal shifts on a worldwide scale and resulted in the deaths of perhaps as much as half the population on this planet. By the time things would have settled down this body would have been in an excellent position to emerge stronger than ever with a repaired environment and a population of survivors who would be vastly more tractable than the current world body. We had even carefully selected for the population on Moonbase Alpha who would form the new elite for the society that we would have created. A pity, really...that scenario held such great promise..."

"Yes, but who knew that these C'thuwulf would have the means of halting a nuclear chain reaction before the mass could go critical?" one Counselor grumbled.

"Yes, as I said, a great pity," the Chairman sighed, "Commander Koenig will never know how close he came to being a God...but, never mind all that. It was the second event that nearly caused some unintended side-effects that would have been to the advantage of this committee. It began innocently enough with an expedition to Antarctica to unearth a primal burial site for the entity that we now refer to under the code-name of Adam..."

"The so-called 'Second Impact' event?" another Councilor asked, "That monster that got taken down by an Iczer-Robo?"

"But not as easily as you are making it sound," yet another Councilor pointed out, "Remember, it was only by uncovering the Spear of Longinus that the creature was finally taken down."

"Yes, but the amount of information we learned from that event was enormous," a third Councilor acknowledged, "And by intervening as she had, the C'thuwulf Protector known as Iczer One prevented an event that might well have melted the entire Antarctic Ice Shelf..."

"Which would have flooded the world's oceans by as much as fifty-two meters, according to our best calculations," a forth acidly pointed out, "And if the oceans of the world had gone up by that amount it would have adequately fulfilled our calculations for a calamity that would wipe out nearly half of the population of the planet..."

"To say nothing of possible Earth tremors that would have rearranged the remaining surface," a fifth Councilor helpfully added.

"Yes, we all know how close to success we came with that incident," the Chairman testily acknowledged, "But because of that failure-and out botched attempts to draw a meteorite into Earth orbit that would have also achieved the same effect-  
-we now have a population that is two billion people larger than at the end of the late 20th century, with all the resulting effects to climate and resource deprivation. However...it yet remains a possibility that we could still engineer the Second Impact and thereby bring about the restructuring and downsizing that this planet needs in order to emerge leaner, meaner and better administered than the world of the present. To that end I should like to introduce our distinguished guest, whom most of you may remember as being the head of the expedition that came close to achieving the original Second Impact. Doctor Ikari, you may now address the council."

A lone spotlight illuminated the figure of a slightly built man whose thin and hawkish features belied his Japanese ancestry. He nodded slightly at the electronic obelisks that served in lieu of the physical presence of the Council members and pushed the wire-rim glasses he was wearing back up on the bridge of his nose, the faint beard-like goatee he wore adding to his slightly sinister appearance as he regarded the space between the obelisks and said, "Gentlemen. Would you like to know about how we can deal with these Iczers?"

"Ikari?" one Councilor sounded shocked, "But...we thought you were dead!"

"Killed with the rest of your expedition," another Councilor stated as if making an accusation.

"As the saying goes, reports of my death are...somewhat exaggerated," Gendo replied, "Now, I will ask you again...do you wish to know how we might be able to deal with these Iczers?"

"What do you have in mind?" came the voice from a third obelisk.

"As you yourself have noted," Gendo began without further preamble, "We have learned a lot from the event that nearly became the Second Impact. The Angels-  
-as we are calling them-represent a form of life far older than humankind, and yet which bear a strange similarity to human DNA, suggesting that they may have played a part in our race's formation. It is also believed that the C'thuwulf are descended from a parent race that likewise seeded human beings upon this planet. Given all that, and what we have been able to learn from the C'thuwulf through both direct and indirect means, we have formulated a new breakthrough in our technological understanding of Organic transmutation, and with this knowledge we have crafted a hybrid lifeform, grown artificially in our secret facilities in Osaka, that we have code-named EVA, if you will now study the demonstration tape that we have made concerning the success of this new project."

A holographic image appeared in the space over the main table, instantly attracting the attention of the Council members. They watched in rapt silence for several minutes, then one of them said, "My...God!"

Gendo smiled, having anticipated just such a reaction, "We owe a lot to these C'thuwulf for pointing us in the correct direction for the development of this new organic technology. It would never have occurred to us to take some of the pathways that my research team has pursued in order to achieve the results that you have just now witnessed. We must also thanks these Venomoids for providing us with the perfect opportunity to test the viability of our new EVAs. That is why the assault on Osaka was halted so effectively, Gentlemen...and I believe that I do not have to point out to you the possible other uses to which this technology might be applied?"

"You can control such a monster?" one Councilor demanded.

"If a thing like that were to get loose and run amok..." another started to say.

"Be assured, we have taken precautions to see to it that this never happens," Gendo replied, "At present there are three EVA units ready for deployment, with three more in various stages of development, and for each EVA we have gene-  
selected an individual pilot who will control the EVA from a governing capsule. We are still testing the limits of their abilities, but now that the Power Pack requirements for their restraining harnesses have reached the full development stage we are ready to go on to the next level. I trust you can see the possibilities which this leaves open should there be any need to deploy an EVA in battle against one of these so-called Iczer-Robos?"

"Can you guarantee success should it come to that?" a Councilor wondered.

"Everything has been taken into full consideration, nothing has been left to chance," Gendo assured them, "All that awaits...is your final approval to make these EVA units fully activated."

"You will have our decision in a few minutes, Doctor Ikari," the Chairman spoke up, "But leave us now...we must discuss the matter of your proposal before we approve the funds that will be needed to make NERV a fully operational unit."

"As you wish," Gendo smiled as he watched the lights fade out at the other end of the chamber, then sighed as he paused to remove and clean his glasses, as cool as the proverbial cucumber while his mind was at work as always, scheming and plotting on his path to eventual achievement of his lifelong ambitions and never minding that the sacrifice had already taken a personal toll on his family life and private ambitions.

His wife was effectively lost to him, his son was confused, angry and resentful, and as for his biological "daughter," well...she was coming along nicely. All part of a grander master scheme that he hoped would soon see fruition, provided that other factors did not impede his goals or altogether preempt them, a reason why he knew that these C'thuwulf would-sooner or later-have to be dealt with.

And to that end he had already put certain things into motion, though he did not feel too inclined to mention this to the Chairman and the Council lest their paranoia lead them to suspect that Gendo's larger plans for the future did not entirely run in lockstep with the goose-stepping likes of a small-minded group like SEELE, who only THOUGHT that they knew the meaning of "The Really Big Picture." His came from a much higher source, and if he was successful...well...the C'thuwulf and Senshi would be the LEAST of worries for the Council to confront in the very near future...

"We are gathered here to honor our honored dead and to give full recognition to the sacrifices which they have made on behalf of a grateful planet," Iczer One pronounced as she addressed the gathering of both C'thuwulf and Earth defenders, "It is for their memory, and to recognize their courage that we dedicate this moment and renew our pledge to uphold the cause for which they have perished."

Muku felt very awkward about being included in the reviewing stand alongside the other "heroes" of the "engagement" that had been concluded on the previous evening. That her friends and their respective "partners" were on hand to receive awards and recognition for their actions only added to her sense of the oddity of this situation. A lot of very important-looking people were also on hand, representatives of organizations that she had only heard about through indirect means, and the parents of her Senshi friends were also present along with her Sensei and his family, and other strange people whose presence she had yet to fully fathom. That she and Rhea would be included in such an auspicious group lent gravity to the matter beyond the mind-blowing facts that she still was having trouble coming to terms with, not least of which was the realization that they had contributed significantly to the saving of the entire planet.

Looking out on the assembled group of C'thuwulf citizenry standing on the broad plaza of Gamora base, both the Military and Civilian personnel, who formed the bulk of the audience for this solemn memorial service, it was only just starting to sink in the full scope of what she had become involved with by accepting Rhea as her partner. Looking out on the artificial skyline of New Gamora city, knowing that their words and images were being broadcast out to every C'thuwulf household, and even beamed live to the C'thuwulf Worldship and places "in-the-  
know" on the moon and elsewhere on the planet, it gave a feeling of being connected to something truly monumental and world-spanning. An entire race-  
beside the human one, that is-stood raptly attentive to the words of their Protector as she gave a sobering account of the efforts made in the defense of their very existence. Lavish praise was heaped on the C'thuwulf allies but the bulk of the credit was being given to the Iczelion corps and the Iczers themselves for standing firm against Big Gold and her insane ambitions, but then the turn came to give full credit to partners of the Iczers, and that was where Muku felt herself being included in the praise, which truly made the whole thing feel bizarre and unreal, as if she were being given credit for something that had been done by an entirely different person.

And then-once the awards had been given and credit attributed to those standing in recognition of others-there came the truly daunting part where the names of those killed in action were called out by Iczer Two, who seemed to take great gravity and deliberation in naming these fallen "friends" as honored heroes. Muku listened as a list of names-all strangers, thankfully-were read off from a list with great formality and solemnity, which added further weight to the entire occasion.

"Opal Red, Iczelion Unit 129, killed in action. First Lieutenant Thomas Harding, Pilot Eagle Squadron, killed in action. Vermilion Yellow, Iczelion Unit 113, killed in action. Second Lieutenant N'shalla Mguyan, Pilot Hawk squadron, killed in action. Beatrice O'Hara, Iczelion Unit 42, killed in action. Marine Lieutenant Tran Nga, Pilot Hawk Squadron, killed in action. Lashandra Washington, Iczelion Unit 51, killed in action..."

The names were strange and had an international flavor, yet Iczer Two read them off as though each name had a face and was a personal friend of hers. There were roughly nine Iczelion warriors who had fallen in battle and thirteen human pilots of the Lunar Defense corps, members of an elite group known as SHADO, whose commander was on hand to give further recognition to the service in which his people had given their "last full measure of devotion" to preserve the lives and security of an entire planet. General Edward Straker was not the only VIP in attendance, but he was the one whom Muku remembered from their previous meeting, and so he stood out from the others in her mind as a presence you felt as much as you respected.

Of even more astonishing presence was the man standing next to a blonde American woman identified as Colonel Sharon Carter-Rogers, the leader of SHIELD, whose representation as an International law enforcement and spying outfit needed no elaboration. The man himself was in full uniform this time, and seeing him in the flesh was as astonishing as meeting a God face-to-face. The legends surrounding him were like a litany of heroic tales told from some earlier era, and yet there was a quiet dignity to this larger-than-life living legend that fairly awed a humble city girl like Muku. It was not surprising at all to her to hear others refer to him respectfully as "The Captain."

Of course Muku was also fairly astounded to see Rini's mother in her Senshi identity as the Neo-Queen of the Moon, Serenity II. Rini and her friends were also in their Senshi identities, not as combatants this time but in honor to the newly reforged alliance that now included the Moon Kingdom within its expanded borders.

She felt Rhea's hand slip into hers and smiled at the gentle squeeze her partner gave her, attempting to reassure her in a subtle way that all was right with the Universe. Muku was still trying to adjust to the idea that the enemy was defeated, the danger really gone this time and there was time at last to draw a free breath without haunching her shoulders in dread of the next surprise altercation. Muku gave Rhea a reassuring squeeze back, reassured by the gentle strength of her delicate-seeming lover, feeling the warmth of emotion flowing between them with an oddly comforting sense that together they could stand up to any challenges. It was not so farfetched to believe anymore that they were indeed a solid item, and recognized now as the honored defenders of both Earth and the C'thuwulf interests.

"And so we give thanks to those in whose debt we find ourselves," Iczer One spoke again, "And in recognition of this debt of honor that we owe their memories we commit ourselves to the partnership in whose lives they have so nobly fallen. May their spirits live forever and their memories be cherished in the hearts and minds of the C'thuwulf race, and to our human allies we make this further commitment to see to it that their sacrifice will never be in vain. Let us carry within our hearts the respect for all life that is the basis of our Alliance and dedicate our future labors to the furthering of our mutual aspirations..."

Muku hoped that this would not go on too long. It was a rather overwhelming affair, the vastness of the issues involved, the sweep of broad implications that were entirely over her head and certainly too important for a mere high school girl to have to figure out...it was more than she knew how to cope with, and the longer it went on the more it became apparent that she would take some time just getting used to this. She wanted to go back to her private little world, to concern herself with schoolwork, skating and her martial arts training, but here she was-virtually drafted into an elite service whose very purpose was being touted as a symbol for the unity of Earthling and C'thuwulf. That her friends Sakura, Yui and Ken shared this spotlight only made it seem that much more unreal, and yet it confirmed in her mind that things would never be the same again. Their lives had been changed, and-for better or worse-  
they were now on call to serve as C'thuwulf soldiers.

"...But lest we think that this day is all about our missing companions and what they sacrificed for the good of all Terra," Iczer One was just then adding to her requiem, "Consider the pain and loss shared by those who remain behind, who loved and lost their partners, friends, sisters in the field, lovers and beloved companions, those who survive and live on, preserving the memory of their lives and what they meant to us. In their honor we must give homage and pray that the pain and remorse they share will not be longer than the happiness and joy their loved ones gave to us all. Be comforted, gentle friends...though no words of mine can make up for the loss we all have suffered, they are not gone from this world forever, and as long as they are remembered, they will live within us forever."

Muku gave a mild start as she sensed Rhea's attention drifting towards one solemn group of individuals whose mournful expressions were more pronounced than any others, and the realization came to her that these were the survivors, next of kin or loved ones left behind by the departed. It brought home to her how much an individual life was valued in terms of the effect they had upon others, and to sense the enormity of that loss was to truly feel humbled. Once again it made her wonder what she was doing in this setting, and how on earth she could have come to be saddled with the responsibility of preventing future such tragedies from happening to others...

**I know it is strange for you, my Love,** a voice startled Muku, sounding like Rhea though her friend had not actually spoken, **It is strange for us as well."

Muku glanced at her companion, a questioning lift of an eyebrow speaking volumes of her total agreement on that subject.

""If you wish to go somewhere after this is all over,** Rhea spoke again, **I will gladly take you to any place that you desire.**

Muku smiled as she realized that the depth of their unity now allowed them full access to one another's thoughts. As odd as this was-and as uncanny as it seemed to her perceptions-she found that she could not resent Rhea's presence as intrusive, so she thought aloud in reply, **Do you feel like skating?**

The warmth of Rhea's response was answer enough, though the words flowed naturally between them, **I would love to.**

**Good,** Muku grinned broadly, **Then from now on you're my designated training partner, Partner.**

Rhea's smile intensified as she thought back, **I like the sound of that. Yes, I very much look forward to training with you...Partner.**

Muku was only dimly aware of the glances turned her way by Sakura and Yui, but that was another issue that could wait for the future to be resolved. For now she had enough in her companionship with Rhea, and for that Muku was both satisfied and enormously grateful...

"Thank you soooo much, Nami-san," Rini breathed a sigh of relief, "I swear, if I had to hang around with Mom and act like a trophy daughter for another minute I would have gone crazy!"

"Glad to help you out," Nami replied as she scanned their current surroundings, "But why did you want to come here, to the place where I work? I mean, granted it's not open yet and won't be doing business for a few more hours, but don't you think that I'm in enough trouble with your parents?"

"Hey, my folks are cool, don't let 'em bluff you into thinking they're gonna get Medieval on your ass," Rini assured her, "And with some of the stuff I know about what they've got hidden in the closet...let's just say that they're in a pretty poor place to be pointing any fingers."

"That's reassuring," Nami remarked, "Considering that some of your aunts throw fire, ice and lightning spells, and your mother wiped out the entire Venomoid assault force with a wave of her magic moon wand..."

"Maybe so," Rini replied, "But there are some things they don't have to know about in too much detail, and I just knew if I didn't get out of there I was going to suffocate! You have no idea what it's like growing up being a Princess..."

"I don't imagine that I would," Nami said with a mildly wry expression, "But tell me...why did you want to come to the bar where I work? Don't you know that-being underage-I technically can't even be seen with you here by my own employer?"

"Just tell him I'm a girl you're recruiting for a date," Rini said as she scanned the empty establishment, trying to imagine what the place would be like when filled with people. A catwalk runway dominated in the center of the room with several metal poles at key points of the stage, suggesting to her the use to which they would be employed during normal business hours, "He doesn't have to know how old I am...and I look mature for my age, everybody says that."

"Yes, but your mother and father are not **everybody,** are they?" Nami reasonably pointed out, the paused before adding, "Just how old are you anyway?"

"One thousand and twenty-seven," Rini replied with a straight face, "What, did you think I was older?"

"W-What?" Nami responded before getting the distinct impression that her leg was being pulled.

"Just kidding," Rini replied to confirm this suspicion, "But...seriously...there's a reason why I used to be called 'Small Lady' by my friends and family...Chibi Usa was my nickname growing up. It's kind of a long story, but it involves a lot of timetravel and going back and forth through the timestream to the time before my own birth. I was really born during something called the 'Second Silver Millennium,' and I was named Usagi the Second and raised in Crystal Tokyo, and at some point in my life I got frozen at pre-  
pubescence and spent several centuries in the body of a six year old kid...my body, only I couldn't age like normal children."

"You lived a thousand years like that?" Nami blinked.

"Yeah, but things changed when I came back into the past, before my parents even got married," Rini further elaborated, "That's when I changed my name and started calling myself Rini, and, well...I don't want to bore you with the details...but let's just say I fixed a few problems in my past so that I could be born here naturally and grow up like a normal kid. It's a funny thing being around to witness your own birth and all that, but...well...I remember everything that happened to me a thousand years into the future, but I'm really just seventeen in terms of my physical body. That's why I say I'm more mature than I look, so you don't have to act like I'm a total ditz, like my mother."

"uh..." Now Nami was uncertain if her leg really was being pulled but decided not to press the matter too closely as Rini was acting as if it were a serious matter to her. Nami conceded that she certainly did act old for her age, which was one factor that had attracted her to the pink haired teenager in the first place, but who would have thought that someone that young could have such a vivid imagination.

"S'allright," Rini smiled lopsidedly, "I don't blame you for being skeptical. A lot of things about us Senshi won't make sense in conventional terms, but you have to play with the cards you're dealt, and that's my life in a nutshell. Did you know that I once dated a winged Unicorn named Pegasus? That's how crazy it gets in my universe, so if you want to hang out with me you'd better get used to weird stuff like that."

"I'll try and keep that in mind," Nami noted, murmuring almost in afterthought, "And I thought my world could get crazy..."

Rini nodded to the stage and said, "That's where you do your thing? Your dancing, I mean?"

"Yeah," Nami also nodded to the stage, "Back when I was hardly older than you I started out doing cage dancing, and I worked my way up to the topless set until I made it to the clubs, and there my popularity took off, such as it is."

"Popularity," Rini repeated, "Because men like to watch you dance with your boobs hanging out?"

"Among other things," Nami shrugged with an amiable smile, "And it isn't just men, in case you haven't already figured that part out."

Rini acknowledged that with a faint smile, "I'm beginning to figure the score. So...does it ever bother you, having guys drool in your presence?"

"No," Nami replied, "I'm used to it by now, and as long as they're not drooling on me they can have their fantasies about me, just as long as I know the truth about myself and give them their money's worth. This is how I put myself through college, and you can make pretty good money dancing for the crowds and giving them something to lust about for a few harmless hours."

"Harmless?" Rini smiled, "I know some of my aunts who would argue about that, and my Dad...well, talk about old fashioned..."

"I know it's not politically correct to think of dancing naked as an artform," Nami replied, "And I'd never claim that all the people who come here are stable and normal, though most are regular people who just want to set aside their cares and daily complaints to relax in an amiable environment that has few rules and fewer restrictions. Me, I get off on the freedom of total movement this affords me...being naked only means there's nothing between me and my audience but the rapt attention that I inspire through my very presence. Nudity gives power to a woman, it doesn't take it away. The false armor and pretenses that people wear to keep us all apart is a trap that offers only false protection. Men are not always the vile predators that you might think they are, Princess. Most men are actually intimidated by a beautiful woman who commands her own sexuality...that's why repressive societies seek to take this freedom away from us, to strip us of our power..."

"All right, you've sold me," Rini nodded.

Nami blinked, "I beg pardon?"

"It's all about goddess worship, right?" Rini asked, "I read a book about it once, how ancient societies gave homage to the Mother Goddess as she was reflected in all women, or something like that. Did you know that in ancient times men used to fear the power of a woman's virginity so much that they thought it took a special kind of man to deflower her, either a King or a great hero? Men used to insist on having their tribal chiefs be the first one to bed their brides on their wedding days so that the Chief could take the power of her virginity away, otherwise it might shrivel him up and blast him, or something like that."

"I've heard about that," Nami smiled, "Lord Rights were considered a burden of Kingship, not a cheap excuse for the king to climb into bed with every woman in his dominion. I know most guys can barely get it up more than two times a night...imagine them having to perform the same service constantly day in, day out all year round, especially in the planting and harvest seasons where fertility was believed to be highest."

"Sounds rough all right," Rini mused, "Wonder how it applies to the C'thuwulf, who've never had any guys in their gene pool?"

"I'll have to remember to ask them sometime," Nami grinned broadly, "I can't imagine Nagisa would be very happy about having Iczer One perform a Lords Right service for all the recently pledged partners in our community."

"Yeah, I'll bet," Rini chuckled again, then more seriously, "So what do you do when you're up there on the stage, waving your tits at the crowd and giving them what they pay for?"

"I imagine myself as being powerful and in charge of everything," Nami replied, "Then I let it all go and just act naturally. There's no fear when I'm up there, no sense of being at anyone's mercy. Most guys won't dare approach me for fear of breaking the spell and losing what I offer, and if anyone did have the balls to try and attack me on the stage, well...the bouncers aren't there to protect me from those jerks, they're here to protect the jerks from me and what I'd do to them. As you already know I'm nobody's play toy."

"But isn't that like promising them something you don't intend to give them?" Rini asked, "Like a tease?"

"Partly," Nami admitted, "But most patrons aren't here for cheap sex, they're here for the fantasy that I provide them. I get to be everyone's dream girl and they worship me with their eyes while throwing money at the stage or slipping yen notes through my G-string."

"Which is a kind of worship service, huh?" Rini said, "Alms for the goddess. So...why did you stay? Did you complete your education, and if so...why are you still here?"

"Maybe because this is where I want to be...when I'm not wearing my Iczelion armor," Nami replied, "I've never had a place you could really call home, not even when I joined the C'thuwulf and took up residence in Gamora city. I ran away from what I laughingly call the home of my childhood and took up dancing to pay my way in the world. I had a rougher childhood growing up than you could ever imagine, and I hope you never have to find out about everything I've had to do in order to stay alive. Believe me, some of it isn't pretty."

"But you're a hero now," Rini said, "You fight to defend the Earth, and in your free time you like to get down and be naked. I think I can relate to that."

"You think you can relate to that?" Nami blinked, not having expected such a bland statement of acceptance.

"Sure, you've seem me transform, right?" Rini said, "I get naked for a few seconds, then I go fight the bad guys."

Nami smiled at this, "Yes...I think I do see. Maybe there's not so much of a difference between us after all, Princess."

"I knew you'd see it my way," Rini said, nodding towards the stage again, "So...what does a girl have to do up there in order to pole dance?"

Nami evidenced surprise, "You...want me to show you?"

"If it won't get you in any trouble with your boss," Rini gave her a minx-like expression.

"My boss I can handle," Nami assured her, "Your parents and my bosses among the C'thuwulf...that's a different matter, and if Cobalt or Sepia ever hear about this..."

"So why do they need to hear about this?" Rini asked as she walked up to the catwalk stage and gave Nami a glance over her shoulder, "Are you planning on giving them a private showing?"

Nami arched an eyebrow at this and said, "Do you want me to perform for you?"

"More like...I'd like to perform for you," Rini replied, "Is there a problem with me dancing naked on a stage with you?"

Nami rolled her eyes at this and murmured, "I just know this is going to get us both in a lot of trouble..." then sighed, "But I'd be lying if I said no to you, Princess, and if you want lessons in pole dancing, then you've come to the right Iczelion warrior."

"But it's dark and poorly lit in here," Rini noted, "And we don't have any music."

"You want music?" Nami smiled, then paused to raise her voice, "Iczel, do you copy?"

To Rini's mildly disconcerted surprise the small Iczelion robot known as Black Unit appeared from off-stage and said, "What am I now, a home Entertainment system?"

"Just comply with the wishes of the Princess, if you would please," Nami directed to her partner, "A bit of sound and music to befit a proper stage performance...oh, and let us know if anyone comes near enough to interrupting our act. After all, we wouldn't want to be rudely interrupted."

The sound of an electronic sigh escaped the Iczel Unit as it-or "he"-  
replied, "As you wish it, Nami-san...but it goes without saying that you're once again courting trouble."

"Wouldn't be the first or last time for either one of us, I'd say," Rini remarked, already climbing up onto the stage with an athletic flip that brought her upright, even as she slipped off her shoes to stand barefoot on the platform.

Nami was quick to comply, though not as showy in her mounting, then the two of them turned towards one another as Rini asked, "So, Sensei, what's the first lesson?"

"You just watch and learn, youngster," Nami smiled, already going into her act, "This is how we pros do it, and when you feel like joining in...feel free to follow my moves."

"You bet," Rini smiled, already fascinated as the stage lighting fell upon both of and with the music started up that suited the sly and supple movements of Nami as she began to flow into her act with the ease of a born dancer. Assured that she was in for some royal entertainment, the Princess heir to the Moon Kingdom got into the grove and began copying the suggestive moves of her newly designated "teacher," and soon the both of them were dancing in coordination with one another, even as they stripped themselves down to become more fully "liberated," the motions of one falling in step with the other until it might have seemed to an outside observer that they were engaged in another form of inter-personal behavior, far less suggestive than actual as they began to make contact and start to explore one another's bodies...

I am the Uatu, Watcher. I am ancient beyond memory. I have seen the birth of worlds and the death of galaxies, for I am more eternal than the stars and can expect to see the Universe die from a heat death in the far distant future. I can peer back beyond the folds of time and unravel the mysteries of time and space as a mere mortal might turn the page of a book, and I can witness atoms in their orbit or Neutrinos whizzing past the most distant stars. There are few mysteries of science that are beyond my knowing and fewer secrets beyond my grasp for I can see and hear all things that transpire within the scope of my awareness. That I choose to make the lunar body orbiting the Earth as my home is merely happenstance, a quirk of cosmic circumstance, yet it makes the Earth a pace of special interest and the central focus of much of my observations.

I am what mortals only imagine Gods to be, and yet-for all my knowledge-I am bound by an oath to never directly interfere with my mortal charges. I have powers far more vast than mortal men could even hope to comprehend, yet I refrain from using my powers directly lest my interference bring about the sort of unintended consequences that a being of my order is capable of inflicting. If a mortal casts a stone into a pond there will be ripples...and yet how much greater would be the splash if I were to cast my stone into the metaphorical water? It is the quandary that has vexed my long existence, and the paradox that defines my present circumstances.

For anyone who truly believes that to observe is not to affect reality is engaging in the grossest of self-delusion. Watching others invariably affects them through indirect means, and I have been watching humanity grow from your earliest primate ancestors and know the complex history that is denied to you, the true story of how human beings evolved to their present level of understanding and self-awareness.

Yes, I was there when the Celestials culled your ancestors in search of your hidden potential, and I was present when the Star Tribes had their war of Light and Darkness that divided the One race into the Many. I have watched you climb from the primordial slime to scale the heights of civilization, and I have seen you travel to the stars time and again, only to come back to your Mother planet to begin the cycle of life all over again. I saw the Solnoid race in their final hour battling to the death against their Paranoid enemies, and I witnessed the valiant struggle to replant the seed of humanity to a world left unspoiled by that tragic altercation. I was here when the Moon Kingdom rose up in its glory and I witnessed the end fall when the tides of the Dark Kingdom came to destroy them. I have since taken residence among the ruins of their once-proud city to watch over its rebuilding by the heirs of Queen Serenity, a human woman whom I counted as a friend...a very rare thing for anyone of my order.

And I have since observed the current cycle that sprang up after the years when the Oceans drank Atlantis, when the sons of Aryas strode across the continent of Europe to subjugate the Bronze Age Kingdoms under their sandaled feet. I watched as the Mother Goddess cults of ancient times were replaced by the Sky Father and his children, who later converted to the Cross or the Crescent as the tides of generations swept you over. I have seen old gods die out as younger cults spring up to replace them, and I was there when Cleopatra took her poison, when Caesar yielded his throne to the Visagothic Christians, and when Galileo challenged the authority of a Medieval church with his humble observations...and if you can imagine such a thing, think of the amusement it caused me to see a mortal peering at me through a crude magnifying lens. I have watched Einstein formulate his theories while Freud conjectured on the nature of the human mind. I have seen the entire span of your history, including the parts which have been burned or buried under the weight of ages...and yet for all of this there are still mysteries about the human plight that still elude even me.

Which is what makes your species such a source of infinite fascination.

As I have said, merely witnessing history is not the same as taking part in it, but by the simple act of watching a thing it is possible to have an effect, however indirectly. Perhaps this is why I have been prone to meddling in human affairs whenever it suits my nature. At first even I was not aware of my tendency to affect the outcome of certain key events within recent memory. It was little more than the slight alteration of certain probability lines, the chance alteration in the path taken by a single electron. The effects were minor at the beginning, but over successive generations they tended to add up to larger and larger effects whose nature became quite apparent. How else would you account for the spontaneous explosion of beneficial mutations that have appeared within the last few thousand years of your species's existence, becoming a true avalanche during the so-called Nuclear Era? Or was it by mere chance that a brilliant scientist should encounter a supposedly "freak" cosmic storm when his team was testing out a prototype shuttle? Or that another brilliant scientist-caught within the blast of his own creation-should spontaneously mutate into a towering man-beast of unstoppable power...and do you really think that it was purely by coincidence that that spider bit that young man and turned him into a legend? Was it by chance that a rocket bearing the-  
supposedly-last son of a dead world should happen to land in the cornfields of Kansas? Indeed, a great many alleged "freak coincidences" can be laid to my feet, for though I did not deliberately cause these things to happen, I in some part did cause events to be shaped into their present configuration.

Any would I do this you might ask? Why go against an eons-long oath of non-  
interference to bring about an explosion of Heroes and Villains that have contended over the most recent decades of your history, who have turned entire cities into battlegrounds and have yielded beings capable of shattering entire mountains with a single casual gesture? Why indeed...unless you know as much about history as I do, and what the consequences to humanity would be if there were no extraordinary defenders to champion the cause of an entire world...or the villains capable of offering them challenge so that they could hone their skills and further develop their powers. I knew that such beings who be needed in good order, and time and again my faith in this belief has been vindicated. Your heroes have done well and have surpassed even my own expectations, and the most recent events of all are further confirmation of the wisdom of my actions.

Indeed, when I first saw the C'thuwulf drifting from the ruins of their world I knew that their destiny would one day draw them to the Earth...and I knew what consequences would befall the blue planet that I consider my own particular jewel within the heavens. I knew that Big Gold would strive to conquer everything and destroy all traces of human potential, save those that were most useful to her own dark ambitions, and I knew that the only cure to such a disease would be a C'thuwulf vaccine, one bonded to humanity and thus inoculated against this particular Virus.

I am pleased to see that my faith again has been rewarded, as it was when I watched a young girl struggle to overcome her own reluctance and become a true hero. I have seen the process repeat itself once again in recent days, and I am satisfied to see that the Earth's defenders have never been more unified in the cause of preservation.

I am-I must confess in all honesty-something of a voyeur for having observed so many interesting chapters of your existence. I find that humanity is a source of both vexation and wonder, for you contain within yourself the very best and worst of what sentient life is capable of aspiring towards. You range the spectrum of behavior and belief, and I find that even in your darkest moments you show the spark of something truly divine that lurks within you. This is why humanity must be preserved against all of the odds arrayed against you, but only human beings can decide your fate, which is why I continue to leave the important matters for you to decide within the scope of your collective karma.

For though I am the Watcher I am first and foremost a concerned and compassionate Uncle, and while my order may not approve, I am proud to observe humanity as you struggle once more to climb your way back to the stars, and if you succeed in this aspiration I will be waiting to greet you like a doting Elder who is proud of the achievements of his children, for children are the way of the future, and in watching your children grow I mark the progress and potential of the future...

"So," Ranma said, "This stuff about us both being descended from Aliens..."

"My father, your grandfather, is such an alien, yes," Cologne replied, "Though obviously not a true alien in the sense that you might be thinking, or else the chances of him marrying an Amazon or Human woman and producing offspring would be most unlikely."

"Y'all seem human enough to me, Sugar," Ukyo noted, "But what's with the disguise if you really ain't such an old bag of bones like you pretend?"

"Call it a form of diplomatic disguise on my part," Cologne replied, "I didn't know my father for very long when I was a child, I only knew from him the stories of far away star kingdoms, like the Jurai themselves. I did know that there was a power within me that was different from other young girls of my acquaintance...but I did not suspect how much that difference was until the years began to pass me by and my friends grew old and withered while I stayed young, in my prime and quite healthy. Over time people started to notice my longevity, and they started to talk. I sensed the suspicion and resentment of the Elders grow the more intense as some believed that I had learned some secret technique for preserving my youth that I was not sharing with others. As you may guess from that point on my life became very difficult within our village, which is why I resolved to disguise my true age through the use of this very convincing and entirely believable illusion."

"But you ain't living in your village anymore," Ranma reasoned, "So why keep up the disguise since we know your secret?"

"Our secret, Nephew," Cologne replied, "And you might ask your mother sometime for her opinions on this subject. She does not know that she is my secret half-  
sister, but I have known all along that the power of the Jurai is within her."

"An interesting tale," remarked Fiber, who was sitting around in the restaurant sipping tea as though she were a welcome family guest, "I can well see where little Ten-chan gained his enormous potential."

"Hey, I had something to do with it too, y'know," Ukyo frowned.

"Aw, don't let it get to you, Hon," Ranma said as he reached out to hug her, "I still think you're special."

The chef smiled as she hugged her husband back and said, "Flattery will get you somewhere Mister, just watch that you don't start getting a swelled head from being a space prince or something..."

"Space prince," Ranma snorted, "I oughta ask cousin Tenchi about that sometime."

"Speaking of which," Cologne turned a wizened expression off to the side, where two near-identical Tenmas were working out together with in an unusual match that did not involve fighting so much as the wireless manipulation of puppets, "The potential of your son has certainly exceeded even my own estimation."

"Hey, no fair!" the purple haired boy was saying to his dark haired counterpart, "I'm not ready to do that yet! I'm still learning the basics..."

"Don't complain to me if you're a slowpoke," Tenma grinned at his counterpart, "It took me a couple of weeks to learn to do this, but if you think you can't hack it..."

"I can hack it!" the other boy said stubbornly, "Anything you can do, I can learn to do better!"

"Don't listen to him, Ten-chan," Yuki assured him, "I think you're doing a wonderful job. I really think you've got the talent to be every bit as good as Ten-san."

"Huh...you think so?" the purple haired boy asked, only to receive a peck on the cheek from the young girl, which caused him to blush a very noticeable shade of crimson.

"Yeah, about that," Ranma said, "You really mean it about opening a shop in town to put on puppet plays for the general public?"

"That is my intention, yes," Fiber replied, "I wish to remain close to your son to continue his training...though in truth he has become so accomplished at No Puppetry that I am learning from him than he has left to learn from me...and perhaps your other son-my ward-will prove to be as talented a student."

"It's plain enough that you did good with our son," Ukyo noted, "And it's just as obvious that Ten-chan really looks up to you, but why set up shop somewhere else when you can just as easily put up shop here in this restaurant. I know that folks would love to see your act, and it would surely draw in more business."

"What a novel suggestion," Fiber smiled, "But are you certain you won't mind my being around that often?"

"Hey, you don't know Nerima very well, do you?" Ranma sniffed, "There's lots of folks around here who are a lot stranger than you'd think..."

"SAOTOME-GET YOUR BUTT OUT HERE AND FACE ME!"

"Case in point," Ranma said without flinching, getting up out of his chair as though he had been expecting this sort of visit. He wandered over to the front door to the restaurant then called out nonchalantly, "That you bellowing like a bull out there, Pantyhose?"

"DON'T CALL ME PANTYHOSE!" came the immediate reply, "AND I KNOW YOU GOT MY KID IN THERE, SO DON'T TRY AND SAY SHE'S NOT!"

"She's in here playing with my kid...you got a problem with that?" Ranma called back.

To Fiber's considerable surprise a furry hand the size of a melon reached out and gripped Ranma by his red Chinese shirt as a face that looked entirely bestial poked its way through the top half of the door and the bull-faced Minotaur held Ranma up to his horn-headed visage as he growled, "AS A MATTER OF FACT, I DO...SO COME OUT HERE WHERE I CAN POUND YOU!"

Fiber opened her mouth to say something when she saw her male host vanish through the front door as the sounds of violence immediately commenced. She turned a questioning look towards Ukyo, who just shrugged her shoulders and smiled before saying, "Like Ranchan said, stranger things than that happen around in this district, Sugar."

Fiber was just thinking that one over when Sakura came down the stairs, yawning and stretching her recently showered body as she listlessly called out to her mom and asked for an okonomiyaki for breakfast.

"What kept you up so late this time, young lady?" Ukyo asked with a look of knowing suspicion.

To no great surprise of her mother, Sakura abruptly sobered and became more alert as she stared nervously at her mother and said, "Umm...I don't know what you mean, Mom. I just...ah...had a late night studying...is that a problem?"

"No problem for me," Ukyo said casually as she turned back to her grill and set to work preparing her daughter's breakfast, "But you really should tell Troi-  
chan that there's a curfew in this house that applies to school nights, so keeping you out late is definitely not permitted."

"Hah?" Sakura's look went from worried to guilty in one easy transition, "But...?"

"I'm your mother," Ukyo replied, "And-unlike some people I could mention-I do tend to keep my eyes and ears open. Besides, I saw her take you off on her motorcycle around eight, and I had a pretty good idea that she wasn't taking you on a field trip."

"Ah..." Sakura fairly wilted.

"We'll talk some more about this when you get home from classes," Ukyo said in a normal tone and volume that-strangely-left no room for contradiction, "But now you and your sweetie had better get on to school or you'll be late, and I don't fancy having another chat with Ms. Hinako over your attendance."

"But I..." Sakura started to say when Troi showed up from the front door, glancing over her shoulder before saying, "Hey...am I imagining things or is your Dad fighting with a nine-foot tall winged Minotaur who has tentacles sprouting from his back?"

"Hello, Troi-chan," Ukyo said pleasantly as if there were nothing ironic at all in her expression or statement, "Have a nice night?"

"Uh...sort of," Troi gave the older Saotome female a puzzled look before turning to Sakura and saying, "Ready to go? The rest of the gang is up front waiting for you, and we'd like to get to your school sometime in this century."

"The others?" Sakura blinked.

"Well, all except for one particular party," Troi winked, "But I'm sure we'll run into her before you know it..."

Muku awoke with the dawn with a gentle smile upon her features. Her dreams had been pleasantly filled with warm memories of a night spent in amorous passion, and then she had been returned home to her own bed after a quick trip of a Regenerator Cubicle to make up for any sleep lost to her nightly training session in the acrobatic arts of Human-Iczer interaction.

She was aware that the space beside her was cold, yet it still bore the impression of another body that had lain beside her for several hours after their return to the Senzenen household. Muku's smile deepened as she caressed the sheets which bore this impression, feeling her link to Rhea was as strong as it had ever been, and while they had to keep a low profile for now, there was hope in the future that they would be sharing even closer ties...provided she could find a way of explaining things to her mother.

Muku yawned, stretched and decided to hop into the shower to make ready for a brand new school day. Downstairs she greeted her parents with a cheerful tone that caused both her mother and father to pause and look oddly at their only daughter. When Muku ate lightly (noting-incredibly-that even her mother's cooking tasted better than usual) and then headed out the door early it caused Akane to feel as if something were up in the air, and-worse still-she did not have a clue as to what it was all about. She turned a questioning look at her husband but Mikado just wore a bland smile of his own and said, "Well, it beats having her moody, right?"

Akane just frowned at him and said, "Why do I get the feeling you know something I don't?"

Mikado chose his words very carefully, knowing that he was taking his life in his hands as he replied, "Honey...she's a growing teenager, and the day you do figure her out is the day you should worry."

"Hey, I was a teenager too, you know," Akane glared, "And when I felt that good about something I always had a reason."

"Well, there you go," Mikado stood up from the table, trying not to make the act look too hasty, "Now, if you don't mind, I have to go have a word with my agent about my latest seasonal tour..."

"Seasonal tour?" Akane blinked, "But it's the off-season. When did this start up?"

"About five minutes ago," Mikado said as he headed out the door, hoping to get a good lead before she figured it out.

"Five minutes ago?" Akane blinked again, then cried, "HEY! Get back here, you! I want to hear what you have to say about our daughter-!"

The chase was on as Muku slipped her skates on and headed off down the streets, too cheerful to give much heed to the current antics of her parents. Everything looked good in her eyes and it was a bright and cheerful morning. When she turned a corner and cruised by a familiar parkway she was not the least bit surprised to be encountered by the sight that awaited her of Rhea in school uniform leaning against a tree, in exactly the same position as when they had met only a mere two weeks back.

"Ohiyo," Rhea said slyly, no longer hesitant or shy about expressing her emotions.

"Ohiyo yourself," Muku replied as she came up to stand before her lover, "Waiting for me long?"

"Not long," Rhea replied, "I knew the moment you got up in the morning, the moment when you bathed and when you ate and when you left your house, so...I knew exactly when you would show up here."

"Pretty convenient that," Muku admitted, then added, "You think I could do the same thing, know where you are and what you're doing at any minute?"

"Most certainly," Rhea replied, "You just need a bit more practice..."

"Heads up, you two!" a familiar voice hailed out, "Just because you're in your own little world is no reason to forget about us!"

Rhea and Muku turned to see Yumi and the others from their inner circle walking up the pass together, accompanied by a civilian-dressed Troi and a demure looking Atros, the latter of whom drew more than a few raised eyebrows.

"Hey yourselves," Muku said, nodding to Yui, Perm, Ken and Sakura before turning her full attention towards Atros.

Troi took the hint and explained, "I'm enrolling my kid in your class. Atros-  
chan expressed a wish to spend more time around her partner, so I've cleared a few channels to get her in with your little group. Any problems with that?"

"Uh...no, no problem for me," Muku turned to Rhea, "Any trouble for you, Rhea-  
chan?"

"Oh no," Rhea assured them, turning a smile towards Atros, "I would be very glad to have you sharing time in our class with us, Sister."

"Does that also apply to me?" chirped Nova, who appeared so suddenly that Yui jumped back half a step from instinct.

"HER?" Sakura could not hold back in expressing her views on this with her expression.

"Ah...yeah, Hon...Nova's a special case, bear with me here, okay?" Troi pleaded, "Nova...you're late getting up, Youngster."

"Hey, I was getting myself ready, gimme a break, Auntie!" Nova replied, "Mom was reading me the riot act, telling me not to blow away stuff or use my powers without good reasons. I mean, like sure, I'm gonna get into a fight on my first day as a normal Earth schoolgirl, right?"

"It's been known to happen," Perm responded with a very nonchalant expression.

"So...what do you think of my new duds, Sis?" Nova asked Rhea, indicating the school uniform that she was wearing, "Not too shabby, huh? My other Mom picked them out for me, they're in my size and everything..."

"You look very nice, Sister," Rhea replied, pausing to give a somewhat concerned look in the direction of Yui.

"They seem adequate enough," Atros said somewhat more indifferently, "As good as anything which we might wear in the presence of civilians."

"Hey, it ain't what you wear, Kid," Troi grinned with a flirtatious lilt to her posture and expression, "It's how you wear it...or not, depending on the circumstances. Me, I like to go as native as I can get when I'm not in uniform. You kids should dress up more to go out on the town, have some fun with your partners, even try normal dating."

"Mother," Atros looked away with a somewhat disquieted expression.

"I think that would be a nice idea," Ken said somewhat diplomatically, "I think you'd look great in anything if you let yourself go a little, Atros-chan."

His mildly teasing tone had the effect of causing Atros to blush while Sakura gave the both of them a somewhat cross expression. A single wry thought from Troi, however, and the young okonomiyaki chef abruptly colored and said, "I'd never dress up in that!"

"Are you sure?" Troi leered, "Because I'd love to see you in leather..."

"Leather?" Yumi grinned, sensing in Sakura's reddened features an ample opportunity for a bit of harmless mischief...

"So," Nova said as she turned her attention back towards Yui, sidling up alongside the young Shrine maiden without the least sense of propriety or hesitation in taking her arm and leaning up against her body, "What do you think about having me in your class, Yui-chan? Think anyone would mind if I sat in your lap during lessons?"

"Are you kidding?" Yui gasped, then gave a start as Nova's hand caressed her bottom, "Hey! Stop that! I mean-not in front of the others..."

"You weren't this shy around me when we were in the shower this morning, Darling," Nova murmured in Yui's ear at what she probably meant to be the level of a whisper, and Yui's deepening blush was all the proof anyone needed to confirm the details of what had happened.

"Don't tell me you're along with this," Sakura asked of Yui, who seemed to share the common viewpoint that the young Hibiki was less than sanguine about having Nova for a partner.

"Ah...well...hey! Not now!" Yui swatted Nova's other hand as it tried to cop a feel for her bosom.

"Looks like you two crazy kids are hitting it off just fine," Troi said with a grin.

"Hey, no complaints on my end, Auntie," Nova replied, still nuzzling up alongside Yui.

Muku felt a mingled sense of sympathy and exasperation for her friend, Yui, who quite obviously had gotten a lot closer to her partner than even she was comfortable with admitting. In truth Muku was not sure what to make of this, or of her own feelings regarding one of her closest friends getting involved with Rhea's somewhat unrestrained half-sister, but she resolved that it was in Yui's hands to sort things out...

In a matter of speaking.

"Well then," Yumi smiled, "If we're all heading to class together, why don't we get going? We don't want to be late, especially for you first-timers."

"Yeah, wouldn't make much sense, would it," Troi smiled, "Like your spunk, kid..."

"You would," Atros noted.

"Before you think about attending to such business," someone else spoke up just then, "Perhaps you might consider dealing with some old business first, Muku-  
san."

"What?" Muku whirled around, only to groan in complaint, "Not you guys again!"

"Sister...brother?" Perm responded with dismay.

"Who else were you expecting, Sister?" Godai asked in a casual manner, both he and Gel poised in their usual stances of 'ready for action,' as if the previous week had never even happened.

"What do you punks want?" Troi growled, "You've barely been cleared from quarantine, and here you are looking for trouble?"

"We were born for trouble," Gel replied, "And just because we've been cleared of the foul influence of Big Gold doesn't mean that we've changed our minds in other respects."

"We still have unresolved issues between us, Muku-san," Gel insisted with a knowing lilt, "And merely because we are enhanced beyond the threshold of normal humanity is no reason for you to decline a match against us...for old times sake, if you will."

"You guys want to fight with me?" Muku asked with a somewhat vexed expression, "After everything else that's happened?"

"It is not that we deny that we are in your debt for saving us from Big Gold and her minions," Godai replied, "But we would like to believe that life for us holds more than the challenge presented by our transformation into partial Bioroids...and since you are yourself enhanced through your connections to your C'thuwulf allies...you and your charming partner."

"Godai...Gel," Perm heaved a sigh, "Not again..."

"You have got to be kidding," Sakura said as she unslung her spatula.

"No way we're gonna let you threaten Muku like this," Yui declared as she stood at the ready.

"Yeah, besides," Nova spoke up, "That's our sister you're threatening, Bub!"

"Indeed," Atros said, "And to attack one of us is to threaten us all."

"Guys," Muku took a step forward while making a pacifying gesture, "It's all right. This part I'm used to, it's not a problem."

"What?" Yumi asked, "Have you got mental, Muku-chan? Don't you know what those guys are made of, what they can do?"

"I know," Muku replied, "But it's okay. I finally understand what these guys want from me, and I'm ready to give it to them...are you with me, Partner?"

"Always," Rhea replied, sensing the thoughts of her beloved and smiling in reassurance.

"Then let's do it," Muku turned and said, "Unit Sixty-Nine?"

"Affirmative," said the diminutive Iczelion robot that appeared near to her side.

"Then let's charge up now!" Muku declared, then stood her ground as her clothing dissolved and the robot flew apart to form her body armor in a matter of mere seconds.

"Excellent!" Godai grinned, flexing his arms as he, too, shifted into his armored mode, "Then shall we get started?"

"And don't expect us to hold back either," Gel added as she, too, shifted into her own armored aspect.

"Then let's pick our battlefield and go at it!" Muku declared as she and Rhea vanished together, shifting into subspace, followed promptly by their chosen sparring partners while the others stood around and looked at the suddenly emptied space beside them.

"Kids these days," Troi sighed, "Well, at least they took it into subspace..."

"Should we go after them?" Sakura asked.

"Would it do any good?" Yui countered.

"Maybe not," Nova replied, "But it sure would be fun to watch Sis and Muku-san kick a little butt, right?"

"You do have a point there, Sister," Atros nodded, turning to Ken, "Shall we?"

"Why not," Ken replied, "You coming along, Perm-san?"

"I might as well," she sighed, "Someone will have to look after those two and carry them home later on."

"If only we could get this on camera," Yumi turned to Ken, "You did remember to back it, right?"

"Ah..." Ken was suddenly aware that Troi, Sakura and Atros were looking at him oddly.

"Now you're talking," Troi smiled, "So...what we waiting around here for?" and with that they vanished, shifting as a group into the Sepia-tinted realm between worlds where Iczer battles could be fought without lowering property values for the surrounding neighborhood, for which favor the citizens of Nerima could be (if they knew about it) enormously grateful...

Continued?

Comments/Criticisms/C'thuwulf Emergency Hotline: shadowmane

This concludes the present cycle of the "Earthchild" saga, but whether or not the series will continue entirely depends on if I can come up with a new storyline that will justify the effort. I do hope you have enjoyed the run of this particular series and the alternate future timeline that was suggested by the brief appearance of Muku and Rhea in my "Realities Cubed" series. I know it took a while to get this final chapter out, but I've enjoyed these characters so much that it seems like a shame to bring things to any sort of permanent conclusion. Perhaps I will take up the pen again one day to continue their adventures, and if you have any ideas in regards to this feel free to write me with your suggestions. In the meantime you can count on the Iczers to do their part for humanity and keep things safe for their future and for the future sake of an entire planet. Until then be well...and be kind to your friendly neighborhood Iczer! ^_^

Jim Robert Bader July 23, 2001

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If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: angcobra1. All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works.  



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